Wednesday, February 16
•Tooro United v SC Villa – Buhinga Stadium
•Arua Hill vs BUL – Barifa Stadium
*Team News
- Isaac Mpagi is the only missing player in Tooro’s squad which started the second round, due to injury
- The club also captured the licenses for new signings Sulaiman Majanjalo, Abdul Lukwata and Muhammad Nsereko which were pending in their last game.
- SC Villa will miss Kenneth Ssemakula (injured), Nicholas Kabonge is still with team FUNDI touring in Spain, while Travis Mutyaba (Typhoid), Oscar Mawa, Salim Abdallah and Ronald Ssekiganda are also sidelined.
- New Signings Bernard Agele, Saddam Juma and Shafic Bakaki available for selection
Probable Lineups
*Tooro United FC – Lukyamuzi Kenneth, Lubanjwa Gerald, Lubega Rashid, Docca Musa, Kakoggwe Apollo, Arinaitwe Martin, Kayondo Ronald, Mwanje Hussein, Magwali Ronald, Madira Kenneth, Senoga Muhammad
SC Villa XI – Martin Ssenkooto (GK), Gavin Kizito, Shafic Bakaki, Gift Fred, Joseph Kafumbe, Sadam Maseraka, Amir Kakomo, Ali Bayo, Benson Muhindo, Isaac Ogwang, Goffin Oyirwoth
Preview: Tooro Seeks to continue Resurgence
Tooro united host SC Villa in their UPL match day 18 fixture at Buhinga Stadium, Fort Portal, as they persue stay in the top flight.
They will be looking forward to continuing with their recent surge and build on their unbeaten start into the second round.
The roaring lions have collected four points from two games of second round so far, which is equivalent to total points they collected from the first round of 15 games.
A win at home against Onduparaka in the second round opener and a deserved point away at Express FC in their last game will be a great motivation when playing a record champion.
“We didn’t have a good run in the entire first round, but now we are looking at winning whichever match we play,” said Tooro United captain Apollo Kagogwe.
“So we have to win this one in anyway possible. There is nothing we can excuse our selves from, we just have to win this game to see that we lift ourselves and beat relegation.”
They are still at the bottom of the log with 8 points, and a win can only reduce on the deficit of relegation gap to 9 points.
The Jogoo’s on the other hand, are coming at the back of a home loss against another struggler Bright Stars, and they will be looking forward not to fall again.
They are just one point above relegation, and any form of loss could see them going back to the old days of 2018/19 season where they just fought for survival.
They are yet to register a win in second round , and they are winless in their last five games since defeating the same Tooro 4-0 in December.
However, head coach Petros Koukouras who admitted to being under pressure, believes that his side is going to do what they failed to do in previous games to see that they get a double against Tooro.
“We know that in the second round they will try to save the season and stay in UPL. Despite the 4-0 win in the first round, it was a tough game and we should not be carried away from the results,” said Koukouras.
“They also have have a few of our ex players who will try to prove a point . But in order to win that game we have to do what we didn’t do in the previous games and that’s utilizing the chances we create in front of the goal.
“When you coach or play for SC Villa there is always pressure, the more games we go without win, the more the pressure, but that’s the nature of our Job and we must handle. We all know that the only way forward is a win against Tooro.”
Villa are currently 12th on the log with 17 points from 17 games.
Stats.
They have so far met 9 times in the league, Villa won 6, Tooro 1, and two draws.
Previous Meetings
2016/17
SC Villa 1-1 Tooro
Tooro 0-2 Villa.
2017/18
SC Villa 1-0 Tooro.
Tooro 0-2 SC Villa
2018/19
Tooro 2-2 Villa.
SC villa 1-2 Tooro.
2019/20
Villa 4-1 Tooro
Tooro 0-1 SC Villa.
2021/22
SC Villa 4-0 Tooro
Tooro ??? SC Villa
