FCPPL Preview: Hearts begin destiny charge, Ashgold race to title

It's matchday 26
The First Capital Plus Premier League is gradually coming to its end with five more games to go. Wednesday will see mid-week action across eight league centres. 19-time champions, Hearts of Oak are now deep into the relegation zone and chances of their survival are slim.

Asante Kotoko v Wa All Stars
The Porcupines come into the game fresh from a superb 2-1 away victory over arch rivals Hearts of Oak on Sunday. The victory which saw them move four places upwards to the eight position. Dauda Mohammed’s brace may have just secured Kotoko’s stay in the league. All Stars will also come to Kumasi on the back of a lone goal victory over Edubiase at Wa Park. The last time the two sides met, it ended in a goalless stalemate but this time round, one of the teams would want to try to run away with a victory at the Baba Yara Stadium.

Kotoko (8th) last five games: W W L L D
All Stars (5th) last five games: W L W D D
Liberty Professionals v Hearts of Oak
This city-derby may further confirm if Hearts of Oak are heading for the exit. Hearts dropped to a disappointing 15th on the league log following that 2-1 defeat to Kotoko. The Oak tree is stunted and it urgently need watering by way of victories in their last five games. Hearts will now be playing in survival mode and this can be destructive for any side that tries to stop them. The administration of the 104-year old club are willing and able to motivate the players to win their last games to ensure that they continue to rub shoulders with the crème de la crème in Ghana’s top flight. The Soccer Lads are also in a desperate search for a win following their loss to the league leaders which saw them drop to the 10th position. Relegation may not be facing them starkly in the face but if they lose this game and their next one against Wa All Stars, they could be heading straight to replace Hearts in its current position.

Liberty (10th) last five games: L W D W L
Hearts (15th) last five games: L L W L L
Bechem United v Ashantigold
Bechem United will play host to league leaders AshGold who are hungry to strengthen their grip onto the title. Bechem have lost 12 games this season and are only better than bottom placed B. A United who have lost 14.

The Bechem side can hardly even manage draws; they have got just three draws the entire season and have let in 31 goals compared to the 28 they have scored. Nonetheless, Bechem are infamous for causing upsets to high flying teams. It was their 2-1 victory over Berekum Chelsea that ensured that the latter couldn’t overtake AshGold at the top of the league.

AshGold will be hoping for a repeat of their victory over Bechem six months ago if they are to keep their title-winning dreams alive.

After the fall of Chelsea, Liberty and Aduana, would AshGold follow in Bechem’s upset campaign?

Bechem (11th) last five games: D W L L W
AshGold (1st) last five games: W L D L W

Great Olympics v Berekum Chelsea
Olympics are for the first time in weeks sitting on top of their city rivals. They have gone past Hearts of Oak after the latter lost to Kotoko over the weekend and they secured a 1-1 away draw at Sekondi.

They are however not out of the woods just yet as they are still in the relegation zone in fourteenth position. Olympics would hope to continue to derive inspiration from their veteran players to overcome third place Berekum Chelsea in a bid to totally leave the relegation zone. Two weeks ago, Chelsea appeared to be the most likely title-contenders but they appear not to have put their 2-1 defeat at Bechem behind them as their performances continue to decline. If they had won that game against Bechem, they would have overtaken AshGold to lead the league.

They also come into this game in the back of the same scoreline as Olympics when they played host to Medeama. For “Oly” to leave red zone, they need to win; for Chelsea to stand a chance of winning silverware, they also have to win.

Olympics (14th) last five games: D W D W L
Chelsea (3rd) last five games: D L W W W

Medeama v WAFA
John Killa’s WAFA have been so impressive in the league that it is no wonder veteran sports journalist Kwabena Yeboah has compared their style to that of European champions, Barcelona.

It is perhaps highly unlikely for them to become Ghanaian champions but their performances have seen them become part of the top teams on the league log. Hosts Medeama are however lethal in attack as they possess the league’s leading goal scorer; Nathaniel Asamoah who has scored 17 of their 30 goals.

The two sides have met once and it was the boys from Sogakope who won the day but on Wednesday, it would be those from Tarkwa who would want to pull a last over the other.

Medeama (9th) last five games: D L W D D
WAFA (6th) last five games: D L W L W

Edubiase v Inter Allies
The pair have met three times and Tema-based Inter Allies have the records on their side; they have won twice and lost once. When they travel to Obuasi, they would hope to have been able to continue in that victorious trajectory. The home team however does not have statistics on their side.

They have let in as much as twice the number of goals their opponents have conceded with 37 goals conceded against them.

Inter Allies would be hoping to exploit that defensive weakness to their benefit as they -just like many of the teams- also try to challenge for the title with five games left in the season.

Edubiase (12th) last five games: L W D W L
Inter Allies (4th) last five games: W L W W W

Aduana Stars v Hasaacas
The two sides have met five times and Aduana Stars have the upper hand. They have won three times and lost the remaining to Hasaacas.

Both teams do not have the best of attack nor defense as their goal differences are plus one for the home team and zero for the visitors. Despite the drought in goals, Aduana have played their way strategically to second place in the league and are increasingly shaping up to take over the number one spot.

Six months ago, it was Hasaacas who emerged victorious with two unanswered goals and they would be hoping to repeat this if they are to continue stay in the relatively safe mid table position of theirs. In an increasingly uncertain league such as this year’s, a slight slip by any team could potentially result in their downfall and neither teams would want that.

Aduana (2nd) last five games: W W L W L
Hasaacas (7th) last five games: D W L D W

More buildup:
CLICK TO READ: How Hearts will survive relegation
LICK TO READ: Dark history looms over Hearts scapegoat Eddie Ansah

CLICK TO READ: Analysis - Ansah praises team, confident of survival

CLICK TO READ: How Duncan outsmarted Hearts
The Joy Sports team will bring you the results of all the mid-week’s exciting games on match day 26. Follow our live Twitter coverage on @Joy997FM starting at 3pm on Wednesday with the #JoySports hashtag.

Story by Ghana/Joy Sports/Kwasi Gyamfi