Hearts of Oak begins league campaign against Ashgold today – check the preview of the realities

Accra Hearts of Oak are finally set to commence their 2020/2021 league campaign against Ashanti Gold Sporting Club on Tuesday evening at the Accra sports stadium.

This is a week two fixture which was originally scheduled for Saturday, November 21, but was moved to today, Tuesday, November 24. This rescheduling became necessary due to covid-19 cases that hit the camp of the Phobians, causing an indefinite postponement of their season opener against Aduana Stars at Dormaa.

Ashanti Gold SC however, had their taste of the season when they hosted Aiyinase based Karela United on match day one fixture which ended in a 2-2 draw at the Obuasi Len Clay Stadium.

TEAM NEWS

Accra Hearts of Oak

Accra Hearts of Oak will host Ashanti Gold SC this evening at the Accra Sports stadium in match day two of the Ghana Premier League (GPL) 2020/2021 season. The Phobians will be looking forward to winning a home league match against the Miners for the first time since 2014.

Star striker Abednego Tetteh, as well as Abdul Aziz Nurudeen remains sidelined for the game this evening as he continues to recover from the covid-19 after is said to have tested positive for the virus which ruled him out of the club’s squad that traveled to Dormaa for the week one fixtures against Aduana Stars which was eventually postponed.

Goalkeeper Richard Atta has recovered from an injury he picked at the latter stages of the preseason and is expected to man the posts against the Miners. Former Samartex FC hit man Victor Aidoo and Afriyie Barnie are set for the attacking roles along with Nigerien international Abdoulrahmane Mamane Lawali who could be making his debut for coach Edward Odoom’s side.

Ashanti Gold Sporting Club

Coach Milovan Cerkovic named a 20-man squad for the trip to Accra to face the 20 times league champions and will look forward to returning to Obuasi with a positive result.

The Miners will have to do without attacking midfielder Mark Agyekum and center-back Samed Ibrahim due to injuries they sustained from their season opener against Karela United in Obuasi.

MATCH FACTS

• Accra Hearts of Oak have failed to win a league match against Ashgold in Accra since they last did in June 2015.
• Hearts of Oak have not won a home match against Ashgold in their last five (5) meetings (D3, L2).
• In their last 5 home matches against Ashgold, Hearts of Oak have scored 4 goals and conceded 7 in the process.
• The Phobians have scored 10 goals in their last 10 encounters with Ashgold both home and away, conceding 11.
• The last time both sides met in Accra in the 2019/2020 GPL, they game ended 0-0.

HEAD TO HEAD

Between the years 2006 and now (2020), Accra Hearts of Oak and Ashanti Gold SC have met 24 times in the GPL. In all, the Phobians have won 7, drawn 8 and lost 9 against the Miners. Hearts of Oak have scored a total of 19 goals and conceded 22.

Ashantigold have enjoyed the better side of the show, having won 9 times, drawing 8 and losing 7 of their matches against Hearts of Oak. They have scored 22 goals and allowed 19. Hearts of Oak have won the league title 20 times as against Ashgold’s 4. The clash on Tuesday evening will be their 25th league match encounter in recent history (excluding that of the previous years), and the better side on the day is expected to win.

MATCH INFORMATION

The game has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 24, 2020 at 18:00GMT at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Match Officials:

Referee: Clement K. Nkuah

Assit. 1: Jasper Adenyo

Assit. 2: Alhassan Abdul-Rawuf

4th Referee: Selorm Yaw Bless

Match Commissioner: Mark Kodua Yeboah