Coach Shaibu Ibrahim Tanko’s Real Tamale United side return to the Aliu Mahama Stadium on match day three of the Ghana Premier League as they welcome Stubborn West Africa Football Academy.
The Pride of the North will be looking to secure their first three points of the campaign this season, after claiming one out of six points played for so far. RTU opened their return to the Ghana Premier League with a draw and lost away to Legon Cities last week in Accra.
The Wayy Una boys will however be aiming to secure their first win of the season, having drawn one and lost one of the two games played so far. The loss at Legon Cities had key moments after some beautiful displays and that according to many coaches can boost the players’ confidence against The Academy Boys.
A team boasting the creative talents of Ronald Frimpong , Stephen Dankwah Badu, David Abagna, Mohammed Sadat, and Mustapha Fuseini plus the return of Yakubu Mohammed who RTU signed before the end of the transfer window, should be able to create more goal scoring opportunities than Coach Tanko’s side did last week.
RTU have put in many of their best performances under coach Tanko in a 3-4-3 formation, and they have plenty of options should he choose to play that formation in this game. This however may change after defender Mathew Abayese was red carded last week leaving the door opened for a change in formation.
Mustapha Fuseini’s versatility means RTU can be fluid in this formation. He can either play as a roaming left wing-back with plenty of licence to attack, or as a left-sided centre-back who makes over-lapping bursts into the opposition’s penalty area. In doing so, the Home side can leave their two other centre-backs, Bawa Samuel and Nurudeen Wemah as their deepest players, with central midfielders Sadat Mohammed and David Abagna forming a central box that should be able to provide sufficient defensive security against counter-attacks.
A win will fine-tune the confidence they need as their next encounter will be away to Aduana Stars who themselves haven’t started the season on a good note.
By: Sey Mubarick
