Winless Chiefs enter ‘angry Birds’ nest

MBABANE - This was once one of the best fixtures to watch in the country’s league and knockouts - Malanti Chiefs never made it any easy for Mbabane Swallows in what would be high-scoring clashes.

They meet this afternoon in the MTN Premier League and Malanti are still winless in six matches.

They sit on second bottom of the standings with just a point, while Swallows have managed two wins and two draws in six matches and they have eight points on position seven.

The numbers make Malanti the underdogs against a side with

LAST SEASON’S HEAD-TO-HEAD:

M. Swallows M. Chiefs 2 – 1 M. Chiefs

1 – 1 M. Swallows

young talent and veteran and experienced stars like winger and Captain Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze, forward Felix Badenhorst, while midfielders Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze and Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu who had been missing in the previous two wins are also back.

BEST OF STARTS

Swallows did not have the best of starts themselves and they are still in the process of reaching their full potential as a club.

It’s a game both teams need to win but only one can achieve that if there will be a winner.

As is, Swallows are favourite to snatch the maximum points and leave Malanti with more worries as four clubs will be relegated come end of the season.

It’s a tough one but Malanti must turn the corner somehow while the Beautiful Birds will certainly be out for the maximum points too – coach Christopher Ennin and his assistants Musa Manyatsi and Siyabonga Bhembe have done it in the last three matches, which has seen them rise from the bottom part of the table to sixth with 10 points after six matches.

They have even gone above Manzini Sea Birds who had started in pole position for at least two weeks before surrendering it in the third.