MATCH PREVIEW: Hearts of Oak hosts Great Olympics in the Mantse Derby
A potential season-defining Ga Mantse derby for both clubs takes place this Sunday at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday as Hearts of Oak takes on Great Olympics.
Only match day two of the season but has a lot of importance - a win for Hearts of Oak will spur them into the rest of the season, they are yet to beat their city rivals in the long haul - a win for Great Olympics will give them renewed hope for a title shot this season under their new coast Yaw Preko.
Fresh from winning the GHALCA Top6, Great Olympics are poised to continue with their early season resurgence and make a case for the title this season.
The Phobians go into the game from the backdrop of a defeat on match day one against Aduana while the Dade Boys are buoyed from their narrow win over Bechem United - this makes the encounter more interesting with pressure gradually mounting on coach Boadu and his men.
However, Samuel Boadu’s side arguably prepared to welcome Olympics to the derby and seem to be in a better position than they were when they last faced each other, with the club's summer arrivals beginning to understand the Phobia way with confidence in the camp slowly building up again.
Boadu may be concerned at the fact that his side has only managed to keep one clean sheet in their last ten Premier League matches - shipping ten goals in those ten games - the terrifying part is that they have lost six straight premier league games ahead of this Sunday's encounter against Olympics.
Securing Confederation Cup group football is obviously at the top of Boadu’s wish list but has to make sure he keeps his job first, he must start winning games which must start with the derby that won't come easy based on their previous statistics.
Great Olympic made their 1-0 success over Bechem United much nervier than it should have been, but they eventually got over the line and will be aiming to build on that as they face it with Hearts.
Great Olympics are in the box seat at the moment, but they are going away from home in front of a noisy, agitating, and deafening Hearts crowd. So, Olympics will have to handle that situation, but they are currently playing well enough to get a win over their rivals - they are not the sort of team that is going to change their tactics and sit deeper to try and defend what they have. Something that does not suit them at all because they have so many good and attacking players, going forwards, that can cause Hearts plenty of problems.
It will be fiercely contested on Sunday between the two city rivals to determine the actual landlords of Accra.