MAZEMBE TO KEEP MOMENTUM GOING AGAINST SMOUHA SC

TP Mazembe will host Smouha SC in Lubumbashion Saturday, in their fourth Group A outing of the 2015 CAF Champions League.

After kicking off their continental campaign with back-to-back goalless draws with Al Hilal and Moghreb Tetouan, the DR Congo giants defeated Smouha 2-0 in Alexandria in the reverse fixtures thanks to goals from Rainford Kalaba and Daniel Adjei either side of the break.

And the four-time winners of the prestigious competition will now be looking to keep the momentum going when they play host to the Egypt representatives, and strengthen their place in the group table where they are currently top on five points, on equal footing with Al Hilal.

Mazembe’s coach Patrice Carteron has welcomed the return of U-23 internationals Roger Assalé, Boubacar Diarra and Adama Traoré, who were on duty with Côte d’Ivoire and Mali last weekend, but will have to do without suspended Merveille Bope, Rainford Kalaba and Yaw Frimpong.

However, the French manager is confident they have enough depth in the squad to get a result in Lubumbashi in the absence of the trio.

“We will have three players suspended, but those things happen through such a competition,” Carteron said.

“Last time against Smouha, the substitutes were excellent, like Boubacar Diarra.”

Meanwhile, Smouha will be desperate to return to winning ways after suffering consecutive losses to Al Hilal and Mazembe.

But thanks to their opening win over Moghreb Tetouan, the Egyptians are only trailing Mazembe by two points and could overtake their opponents with a positive result on the weekend.

The game will kick off at TP Mazembe Stadium at 15h30 CAT on Saturday 8 August 2015.