- Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards will square it out in the first Mashemeji Derby of the season on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
- The game is expected to be staged at the refurbished Kasarani Stadium.
- Mihic has stated that they must work on their finishing in order to stand a chance of hurting their rivals.
Gor Mahia FC head coach Sinisa Mihic has expressed confidence in his side beating arch-rivals AFC Leopards in their first Mashemeji Derby of the season.
Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards were scheduled to meet for the first time in the 2024/2025 Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) in November 2024.
However, the game was forced to be postponed due to the unavailability of a facility that could host a high-profile match at the time due to the unavailability of Nyayo and Kasarani which were undergoing renovations.
The eagerly awaited Mashemeji Derby is now slated to be played at the Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani on Sunday, March 2.
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Speaking after Gor Mahia’s 3-0 triumph over KSG Ogopa in a FKF Cup Round of 64 match over the weekend, Mihic stated that they have a lot of expectations in the fixture.
“Like for every other game. We need to be clever about how we manage the energy because this is the third game in seven days. So, we will give some rest and start to prepare the strategy for the Leopards.
And we are happy, as we wait for this game with courage, with a lot of ambition and I believe we will win this game,” he explained.
The 48-year-old added that his charges will have to fine tune a number of things in order to dismantle Ingwe.
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According to him, Gor Mahia’s forwards must improve their form in front of goal going into Sunday’s clash.
“We insisted on some things such as ball possession with a lot of passes, creativity, to be more calm and we did a good job. We are satisfied with what we saw, just maybe the finishing because we really created a lot of chances today but we didn’t score.
This is maybe a small minus but everything else was good. Of course, we are waiting for a harder opponent, especially Sunday’s game, so this was a nice preparation, not high intensity but in terms of creativity and ball possession. I am happy,” offered Mihic.
Should Gor Mahia beat AFC Leopards, they will increase their tally in the FKFPL standings to 39 points.
On the other hand, a win for Ingwe, who occupy the fifth position at the moment with 34 points, will help them overtake Gor Mahia.
Therefore, apart from the bragging rights, the two title contenders will have a lot to play for on Sunday in the crunch Mashemeji Derby.
Mashemeji Derby date & venue
The first leg of the 2024/25 Mashemeji Derby will take place on 2 March 2025 and will be held at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani from 1600EAT.
Gor Mahia won both legs of the derby last season and have only lost once in the last 16 meetings between the two sides.
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