By SAMUEL LUKHANDA –
BUOYANT MTN-FAZ Super League champions Zesco United would be bidding to make up ground on leaders Power Dynamos  and Green Buffaloes when they host promotion side National Assembly in a midweek fixture at Levy Mwanawasa.
Confederations Cup envoys Zanaco will warm up for the crunch Saturday game against Raja Casablanca of Morocco against Forest Rangers in the capital while big spenders Buildcon go in search of their first points on the road to Lumwana Radiants.
Zesco vs Assembly
The champions coming from a 3-1 morale boosting win over Buildcon are in a bullish moody aiming at making ground on the early pace setters in Power and Buffaloes by beating Assembly today.
Zesco look favorites on paper to bag all three points considering the gulf in class between the two sides but Assembly found some joy in Week One at the same venue against all odds when they shocked Buildcon 1-0 in smash and grab style.
Tenant Chembo has  a deep squad and will shuffle the pack again for this fixture knowing he has a long season ahead with the CAF Champions League group stage on the horizon.
His front trio of Lazurious Kambole, Jesse Jackson Were and Zikiru Adams all found the net against Buildcon and will look to continue where they left off. Lameck Banda youth enthusiasm down the channel seem to be the catalyst for their attack.
But the backbone remains veterans David Owino Odhiambo at the back and Kondwani Mtonga in the midfield and Jacob Banda between the posts. Solomon Sakala is likely to start after he came in as a substitute. Other squad members are likely to get a run considering the caliber of opposition and keeping the squad fresh for next month.
Assembly have lost two game on the trot and coach Oswald Mutapa will look to William Njobvu, Luka Chamaga and Peter Mwangani for inspiration to stop the slide.
They have to defend as a unit and break on the counter with speed as they did against Buildcon except Zesco play with a flat back four unlike Buildcon who deployed a back three.
Zanaco vs Forest
Zanaco coach Numba Mumamba will definitely make a lot of changes to his team that beat Lusaka Dynamos with one eye on the Confederations game against Raja Casablanca which they must win to stay alive in Africa and make amends after being dumped out of champions league.
They come into this game on the back of two wins and they need to get another win in order to stay with the contenders. They face a Forest Rangers side looking for identity having only played one game this season.
Numba has a solid squad anchored on veteran defense core of Ziyo Tembo and  Edward Chilufya. Tafadzwa Rusike has been a stand out in the middle while Numba has been changing forwards with Martin Phiri, maisha Chavda and former Forest player Felix Nyaende all taking turns to lead the attack.
The youthful Forest have their work cut out after suffering home and away last season. They lost 1-0 at home and 2-0 on the last day of the league.
Perry Mutapa remains optimistic ahead of the clash. “We are here for a positive result after a win at home, we want to continue although Zanaco is a good team full of internationals. They have a solid record at home  but records are there to be broken,” said the Forest coach.
Lumwana vs Buildcon
Reality is setting in at Buildcon after the hype of the offseason acquisition has not yielded the desired results on the field suffering two defeats at home. They head to Lumwana in search of their first points as pressure mounts on the Italian coach Arena Gulgleimo and his expensively assembled team.
They have to start winning now if they are to realize their ambitions of playing continental football next season but Lumwana are stubborn at home.