BELEAGUERED Harare giants Dynamos will be looking to claim their first victory over archrivals Highlanders in open play since 2015 when the country's biggest league fixture returns to Rufaro Stadium this afternoon.
The last time DeMbare hosted Bosso at Rufaro in the league was in 2019 when the match finished in 1-1 stalemate before the ceremonial home of football was shut down to topflight league matches.
Rufaro Stadium was only opened to premier league football this year.
Dynamos have struggled to beat Bosso in the league since their 3-2 win at Rufaro Stadium in June 2015.
Since then the Glamour Boys have won two matches albeit through the boardroom; first in 2017 when the match was abandoned due to crowd trouble and they were awarded the match on a 3-0 scoreline.
Ironically their other win came in exactly the same manner at the same venue only that it was now September 2023.
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Since 2015 Highlanders have won seven of their 14 meetings, with Dynamos boasting of just two while the rest ended in draws.
The two traditional giants of local football have struggled so far this season. Dynamos only had a couple of days to prepare as their players went on industrial action over unpaid bonuses and sign-on fees.
Dynamos coach Genesis Mangombe feels Bosso do not pose a huge threat, but is hoping the strike will not affect his players.
"Highlanders do not give us much of a problem. Even in the game that we lost against them, it was not a difficult match for us. We played much better than them,” Mangombe said.
“My only worry is that we might be affected by the strike we had. It is a big match and I feel that it will be decided by small margins, but otherwise, I am sure we are going to play better than them.”
Highlanders won the reverse fixture at Babourfield 2-1 on the first day of the league season.
At the halfway stage of the league race Bosso sit in fifth place in the league with 26 points from 17 matches while Dynamos are sixth — two points behind.
Dynamos have won just two of their last nine matches with six draws and one loss.
On the other hand Bosso have won just once in their last eight matches.
Bosso coach Kelvin Kaindu is of the view that the in-house problems bedeviling Dynamos make them a tricky opponent to play at this stage
“It makes it very difficult when you are playing a team that has its in-house problems. You may be misled and it may also affect you one way or another, but we don’t know what is happening behind closed doors," Kaindu said.
“If you look at the magnitude of this game, whether they are training or not, it is a game that everyone wants to come and watch and we are not dwelling much on that [the turmoil at Dynamos]. We just want to focus on this game and remain positive."
Highlanders have signed striker Nqobile Ndlovu from Botswana's Sua Flamingoes and lost midfielder Devine Mhindirira to FC Platinum.
Dynamos are looking to cash on the high profile fixture and have hiked the tickets to US$5 for rest of the ground, US$10 VIP and US$20 for VVIP.
Today's Fixtures
Chicken Inn v Caps United (Luveve), Chegutu Pirates v FC Platinum (Baobab), TelOne v Zpc Kariba (Bata), Dynamos v Highlanders (Rufaro)