Liberty Professionals make a short trip to Osu looking to apply the brakes on Hearts of Oak who have sparkled in their recent games.
Kim Grant’s men have won all their last three games in the Premier League B zone and are targeting their fourth straight triumph with the Scientific Soccer Lads visiting at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Phobians have been boosted by the performances of starlets Abdul Manaf Gumar Junior and Michelle Sarpong while lateral defender Christopher Bonney has been in decent form getting directly involved in 2 goals in his last three games.
This means Reginald Boateng will have to charge his lads to grind out the results for the first time on the road in the competition if they are to stop the rejuvenated Rainbow boys. The 31-year-old trainer, who is the youngest coach in the competition, is yet to record an away victory in the competition.
Hearts of Oak lateral defender William Dankyi Ntori, who is also a member of the Ghana U23 squad, was stretched off the pitch during the 4-0 battering of WAFA at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday and it remains unclear whether he could make a return to start the game on Wednesday.
This could leave Kim Grant to call on left-back Okemba Ovouka into the start line up for the game; that is if Dankyi is unable to recover in time for the game. The Congolese displayed blistering pace and high aggression when he came off the bench to replace the 19-year-old during the game.
Liberty failed to find the back of the net in their weekend fixture as they shared the spoils with Dreams FC in a 0-0 contest.
NCSC Stats
- Liberty haven’t won any of their last three matches in the competition (D2 L1), their longest winless run so far.
- Liberty have scored three and conceded four goals in their three games in the competition. All three goals were scored on the road in a 3-3 drawn game with Karela United FC.
- Hearts have scored nine goals and conceded just one in four games at the Accra Sports Stadium in the competition so far.
- Hearts of Oak haven’t beaten Liberty Professionals on their last three trips to the Accra Sports Stadium (D2 L1). Mohammed Issa Shaibu’s 18th minute stunner consigned the Phobians to a 1-0 defeat at the nation’s Wembley in 2016 in the Premier League under Japanese Kenichi Yatsuhashi.
- Hearts have scored just one goal against Liberty in 270 minutes of Premier League football at the Accra Sports Stadium.
- The last time Hearts of Oak recorded a victory over Liberty was in October 2013 when the Phobians won 2-0 with attacker Mahatma Otoo being among the scorers.
- Hearts have defeated this same Liberty Professionals side three times already within this calendar year including twice at the Karl Rheindorf Park – the home grounds of Liberty.
- Kwadwo Obeng Junior headed in a Christopher Bonney corner kick to give Hearts a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture.
- No team has been able to pick a point at the Accra Sports Stadium against Hearts of Oak since the start of the competition.
- Hearts of Oak duo Michelle Sarpong and Kofi Kordzi have scored twice each in their last two games for the former CAF Champions League, Super Cup and Confederation Cup winners while Joseph Esso is still searching for his 5th goal in the competition.
Credit: ncspecialcompetition.com
