AFTER a week of preparations and plotting the winning formula, rivals Police and Rayon Sports get down to real business when they face off in the Turbo King Football League second round match on Sunday at Stade de Kigali.

This will be the first match for Police FC’s coach Sam Ssimbwa against his Rayon counterpart Luc Eymael, who took over from Didier Gomes da Rosa last month.

Ssimbwa knows well his opponents having beaten them 2-1 in the corresponding fixture, and he will be eager to complete a double over the reigning champions, who are second on the table behind the leaders APR.

 The army side, despite losing their head coach Andreas Spier, who resigned last week, have 43 points, three ahead of Rayon Sports, while the Cops side stand 12 points off the pace in fifth position albeit with a game in hand.

The champions will be playing their second match after being dumped out of the Caf Champions League by AC Leopards de Dolisie of Congo at the preliminary round last weekend.

Eymeal’s side beat bottom side Amagaju 2-0 courtesy of goals from strikers Meddie Kagere and Cedric Amissi to go three points behind leaders APR. It was the eighth league goal of the season for both strikers.

Supporters of both teams will be full of tension waiting to know who will win after the full 90 minutes of the game. Both sides will be forced to work hard to avoid any slip-ups because anything short of a win for either side will benefit APR in the title race.

Police head coach Ssimbwa who will be missing suspended striker Jacques Tuyisenge and defender Amani Uwilingiyimana expects his side to play an attacking game if his side is to overcome the task at hand.

Ssimbwa said, "If you can’t beat top clubs like APR and Rayon Sports, then you should not talk about winning the league title.”

"I’ve told the guys to play our usual style to ensure that we win. We must not lose more points following our loss to APR in the last fixture,” the Ugandan tactician told Saturday Sport.

Return of former players

Striker Jerome Sina will be facing his former club for the first side since he signed for Police early this year. He never impressed in Police’s last fixture but the Ugandan tactician believes Sina will hit his top form sooner rather than later.

 "We definitely need to take our chances. We must get efforts on target, in football you have to score when you get the chance,” Ssimbwa noted.

Rayon Sports’ Belgian coach Eymael, who is still disappointed with the manner his team threw away a 2-0 half time lead to draw 2-2 with AC Leopards in the Champions League second leg, says his team is taking nothing for granted against Police.

He said, "For the moment we’re three points behind APR and we could go level (on 43 points) if we win our game against Police.” 

"The Champions League is a closed chapter for us, and our mind is on the league; it’s crucial that we beat Police on Sunday,” added Eymael.

Early weekend game

Africa Confederation Cup hopefuls AS Kigali head to Rubavu to take on home team Marines in their rescheduled league fixture this afternoon at Umuganda stadium.

The match was rescheduled because of Andre Gasambungo’s team participation in the continental club championship where they eliminated Academie Tchite of Burundi to progress to the first round.

Gasambungo is optimistic his side will carry on from where they stopped before competing in the Caf competition.

"We are ready for the task and I am convinced we will win away (from home). Every player has recovered and they are ready for the match,” added the former SEC Academy coach.

AS Kigali are sixth with 31 points, level with fifth-placed Police FC, while Marines stand eleventh with 13 points in 17 matches.

AS Kigali will next face AS Muhanga next Wednesday for their Match Day 18 rescheduled fixture before switching focus to the first leg of Caf Confederation Cup league first round clash against Ahly Shandy of Sudan set for March 2 in Kigali.