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| AFC Leopards players celebrate a goal in a past KPL match. [PHOTOS: STAFFORD ONDEGO/STANDARD] |
By GILBERT WANDERA
AFC Leopards coach Jaan Koops has predicted a three-horse battle in hunt for the Kenyan Premier League ( KPL) title.
Koops picked out Leopards, Tusker and Sofapaka as the teams to beat, saying they all have a chance to win the league with Thika United, the alternative team that has an outside chance in case the three sides falter.
“If we consider how the three teams played in the first leg, it is logical to see that the fight for the title will oscillate among them,” he said as the team began pre-season training in Mumias yesterday.
Koops said currently all the three favourite sides have very strong squads and a good substitute bench going into the second leg and can only be let down by unforeseen injury to their key players.
“The only fear they all may have is either if their key players get injured or they fail to perform to expectation,” Koops said.
Club ambition
He said AFC Leopards still has the ambition of winning the league despite a bad end to the first leg, which saw them go four matches without a win after enjoying an un-beaten running of 22 matches.
“It is no doubt that we finished the first leg on a disappointing note but this does not take away our ambitions to win the league.
“Just like I said when the season started in February, this is our aspiration and we remain focused on it,” he revealed.
The coach is delighted by his team’s capture of former Tusker midfielder Paul Were’s signature, saying he will be a great asset to his strikers.
“In the first leg, our strikers have had problems getting the ball to score but with Were’s signing I’m sure it is a challenge we will overcome.
