KPL odds and best bets – Ulinzi Stars vs. Sofapaka free picks

Sunday, May 27 – 3:00p.m Local time Afraha Stadium, Nakuru County, Kenya

The race for the Kenyan Premier League title continues this weekend when Ulinzi Stars play host to Sofapaka at the Afraha stadium on Sunday afternoon. Second placed Ulinzi will be looking to draw level on points with Gor Mahia who will not be taking part in any Premier League action after their match with AFC Leopards was postponed.

The Mashemeji derby has finally be called off until further notice after a prolonged week of highly publicized supremacy battles between the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and Kenyan Premier League (KPL) Limited.

FKF president Nick Mwendwa took the first stab by announcing at the beginning of the week that the much anticipated derby will not take place, owing to the fact that the Harambee Stars have a scheduled friendly with Swaziland on Friday.

FKF had organized a friendly match with Swaziland on May 25 and another with Equatorial Guinea three days later, despite having an already clustered KPL fixture. The friendly matches are meant to help the newly appointed head coach of the Kenya national team, Sebastien Migne, to gel with his players ahead of the decisive 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match against Ghana in September.

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KPL Limited, through its CEO Jack Oguda, came out guns blazing insisting the derby will still take place, considering the match had previously been rescheduled after a formal request by AFC Leopards was granted. The matter has nonetheless been settled unequivocally by the Sports Dispute Tribunal (SDT) who adjudicated on the derby’s postponement.

The decision to postpone the Mashemeji derby is well founded, as the match would have been without its usual pomp and color considering Gor Mahia had at the start of the week released seven players to join the national team, while five players from Ingwe set up camp with Harambee Stars.

K’Ogalo will nonetheless have plenty to think about when they return to Premier League action after they gave up a 2-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Sofapaka last weekend. Batoto ba Mungu, to their credit, became only the third team after Tusker and Chemelil Sugar to share the spoils with the reigning KPL champions this season.

Meddie Kagere opened the scoring for Gor in the ninth minute while Bernard Ondieki put the league leaders in the driving seat with a towering header before the break. Kepha Aswani halved the score line right after the interval, but it was Ezekiel Okare who turned the tie on its head with a brace, two minutes before regulation time.

Gor however forced in a scrappy goal through Innocent Wafula to salvage a draw at the tail end of the encounter; one that maintained their unbeaten run of 13 league games.

The draw as such enabled Ulinzi to leapfrog Mathare United to second and trim the gap with Gor Mahia to just three points, after the Soldiers registered a comfortable 2-0 win away to Wazito through goals by Elvis Nandwa and Masita Masuta in each half.

Ulinzi Stars vs. Sofapaka Match prediction

Ulinzi Stars may be on a plausible unbeaten run of six games, but what makes the Kenya Defense Forces outfit stand out is their consistency in keeping clean sheets. Dan Nyaudo’s side has maintained three clean sheets in their last three victories, and has recently proven hard to break down even when they don’t score.

Sofapaka have, in stark contrast, kept only two clean sheets in their last seven games, and won’t be afraid to throw numbers forward against Ulinzi.

Be that as it may, Ulinzi Stars have an impressive run of five wins over Sofapaka in their last five meetings; one which they will be out to uphold.

Prediction:

• Both teams to score
• Ulinzi to win

Ulinzi Stars vs. Sofapaka recent results

Ulinzi Stars 2-1 Sofapaka (September 13, 2017)
Cliff Kasuti 51′
Samuel Onyango 60′
Umar Kasumba 67′

Sofapaka 0-1 Ulinzi Stars (May 10, 2017)
Daniel Waweru 60′

Ulinzi Stars 3-1 Sofapaka (September 11, 2016)
Samuel Onyango 22′
John Kago 74′
Brian Birgen 88′
Charles Melubo 17′

Sofapaka 1-2 Ulinzi Stars (May 21, 2016)
Patrick Mugendi 85′
John Makwatta 45′ (P), 60′

Ulinzi Stars 1-0 Sofapaka (September 7, 2015)
Kevin Amwayi 22′