How and where the Muhoroni vs Ulinzi Stars battle will be won

Muhoroni Youth will be in action to face visiting Ulinzi Stars on Friday at the Muhoroni Stadium.

Both sides have had shaky starts in the season with Ulinzi Stars securing a 1-0 win over struggling Sofapaka to register their first win last weekend.

Muhoroni, head to the clash winless, having drawn 3 games and lost one. A 1-0 defeat to Tusker FC in Nairobi last Saturday was their first loss in the campaign.

It is a game that coach Charles Odera will look to rile his charges up as a do or die affair, especially noting that they are at home.

In this pre-match analysis piece, I will set out to gauge what to expect from the match and how both teams will look to grab maximum points, with major emphasis on Muhoroni Youth.

Muhoroni have a rather distinct style of play. The club rarely knocks the ball around in their final third but rather opt to look to move it forward through short passes or long direct balls for the striker to run onto or lays it to the wingers.

Majorly, Muhoroni have an affinity for long balls down the side of the opposition defense for the attackers to run onto and wait for cutbacks or driven crosses towards the arriving forward or the attacking midfielder.

Now that we have an idea of how they look to employ their principle of fast wingers and crosses in possession. How could coach Odera select his squad?

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In goal will most likely be Ezekiel Owade, however in their last home match against Nzoia Sugar FC it was

Tom Muthomi who was in goal. Lanky Stephen Bulugu is likely to feature at left back given the aerial prowess he has in the opposition box and his ability to attack the ball in set pieces.

Vincent Otieno may be handed the right back roles while Alex Onchwari will be partnered with Erick Juma in central defence.

In central midfield expect Christopher Raila and Ibrahim Ochieng, manning an area that will be key in winning the match.

Kevin Okoth is the most advanced midfielder, tasked with linking the midfield and attack while flanked by the dynamic duo of Maxwell Odada and Stephen Mbulere.

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Leading the line will be Collins Neto.

In possession Muhoroni Youth often set up in a 1-3-4-1-2 but there is nothing conventional about this set up.

Of the two-up top, Neto and Okoth, only the former is the contemporary regular back to goal striker as the latter looks to drift deeper or wider into the channels.

Muhoroni’s main points of progression often come from wide areas, with their wide attackers having a blend of blistering pace, close control and vision that are aided by their flank heavy progression style states the unpredictability one has to deal with when facing

them.

In Raila, Muhoroni have a player who is also able to push the team high through his impressive movement, passing and ball carrying.

His progressive passes also look to find Okoth between the lines. Muhoroni are more dangerous in attacking transition as they are quick in getting numbers forwards.

They are a team that looks to sit and absorb pressure by allowing the opponent possess, creating enough spaces in behind them.

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In counter attacking situations their left-hand side is often the focal point of progression, as the willingness of Bulugu to join the attack helps them get up the pitch in numbers as quickly as possible thus, destabilizing the opponent through wide overloads.

Out of possession, Muhoroni Youth ordinarily sets out in a 1-4-4-1-1 when defending deep.

This structure means they drop into a compact low block with the two central midfielders looking to compact the central areas and eliminate central progression by the opponent.

When pressing they do it in a 1-4-2-3-1 structure looking to use the high work rate of Neto to help in dragging the opposition build up to one side, from here they look to counter wide overloads as the wingers and ball side midfielders drop into the wide position

to hurt the opponent.

In their low block, Muhoroni will often have 9 players behind the ball and dependent on where the ball is, the striker will often be the presser and chase the ball down.

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This pressing idea hurts them in terms of chances conceded as the opponent will majorly drop a player in between their lines of midfield and attack where the player can dictate the tempo of play and break lines comfortably.

So how can Ulinzi look to hurt this Muhoroni?

Muhoroni struggle heavily on defensive transitions. The double pivot balance is not the best yet and thus there are a lot of gaps between defence and midfield that are often very exposed allowing the opposition wingers to invert and drive into these areas.

This is something Ulinzi can use as in Boniface Muchiri, they have the perfect person to do it.

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The need to always play on the front foot and push up to attack by Bulugu also shows that he often leaves gaps in behind that can be exploited.

Exploiting the spaces and being very keen on balls in behind will be key for Ulinzi.

I am sure this will prove to be an interesting encounter and there will be tactical and individual battles all over the pitch as both teams will be eyeing positive results.