Contrasting ambitions as Express enter SC Villa den

Arch rivals. Express FC’s Sserunkuma and SC Villa’s Kyambadde will lead their respective teams today. PHOTOS BY EDDIE. CHICCO

Kampala.

Before the turn of the century, a fixture between Villa and Express was often considered a clash between two title contenders with the clubs sharing 12 of the 13 titles between 1992 and 2004.
Both clubs have since fallen on lean times with Express’ triumph in 2012 the only league success of note for both teams.
While Villa have continued to compete, Express go into today’s meeting between the traditional rivals on a different wavelength with relegation talk dominating news at the six-time champions.
The Red Eagles who are experiencing both administrative and on-field issues have since hired former SC Villa coach Shafik Bisaso as they seek to pull themselves out of the relegation places.
“The problems at Express are not unique and every team that is not owned by an institution experiences them,” he noted. He also believes that his team will come into the game with less pressure to deliver which could play into their hands.
“The game between the two teams retains importance but the team that has been playing well is usually under more pressure to win,” Bisaso opined.
His presence on the touchline should provide an interesting sideshow with counterpart Waswa Bbosa who similarly felt underappreciated during his time at Express before replacing Bisaso at Villa. His team who are one point behind leaders Police could go top of the league should KCCA fail to win their game against Proline in their Lugogo derby with the two teams level on 22 points.
Villa will be able to bank on an impressive home record since moving to Masaka Recreation Centre where they have won all six games this season and not lost in 12 matches in a run stretching back to last season.
“Three seasons of finishing behind KCCA forced us to look for the right players to challenge for the title. Even after losing two boardroom points we are still in contention,” Bossa said of his team’s performance thus far.
Their goals have been spread throughout the team thus far with George Ssenkaaba’s winner against Onduparaka making him the fourth player in the side with two goals thus far. Express in contrast are dependent on Daniel Mzeei Sserunkuma.

AUPL TABLE

P W D L F A Ps
Police 12 7 2 3 16 10 23

KCCA 11 6 4 1 24 6 22 SC

Villa 11 7 3 1 9 4 22

Onduparaka 12 5 4 3 10 8 19

Bright Stars 12 4 6 2 9 7 18

Vipers 11 4 5 2 10 8 17

Kirinya Jinja 11 5 2 4 8 7 17 URA 12 4 4 4 11 7 16

Maroons 12 3 7 2 7 8 16

Mbarara City 12 3 5 4 6 9 14

Soana 12 3 4 5 5 12 13

BUL 12 3 3 6 6 12 12

Proline 11 3 2 6 12 12 11

Express 11 3 2 6 7 9 11

Masavu 12 3 2 7 7 20 11
UPDF 12 1 3 8 9 19 6

Today’s games
SC Villa vs Express
(Live on Azam TV 1)
Vipers vs Kirinya
Proline vs KCCA