Yanga might not be faring too well in the domestic front, but the Jangwani lads are confident of posting a good result when they face USM Alger in Algiers, Algeria on Sunday.
This is a very important stage for Yanga if they need to participate in the CAF tournaments next season, after being eliminated in the FA cup by Singida United last month and are on the brink of giving away their Premier League title to rivals Simba.
They need to make it to the top two of their group in order to advance into the quarter-finals of the tournament.
However, it will be a tough outing when you consider their last trip to that land. In April, 2017, Yanga went there to play USM Alger’s local rivals MC Alger and the Jangwani club ended up with a heavy loss of 4-0.
Apart from USM Alger, the Jangwani based club is pooled in group D alongside two other East Africans clubs, Kenyan giants Gor Mahia and Rwanda’s Rayon Sports, battling for two tickets into the quarter-finals stage.
Sunday’s game will be played at the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers and will be officiated by Ghanaian referee Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea, who will be assisted by Abel Baba from Nigeria and his compatriot David Laryea.
Yanga qualified to the group stage after dismissing Ethiopian side Wolaitta Dicha 2-1 on aggregate, thanks to a 2-0 home victory, before losing 1-0 away in Hawassa, Ethiopia.
Elsewhere in the group D, Rayon Sports will be facing Gor Mahia in all East African encounter on the same day in Kigali.
After taking on the Algerians, Yanga will return home to host Rayon Sports at the National Stadium on May 16th.
The match will be officiated by Kenyan referees with Davies Omweno being at the central, assisted by Gilbert Cheruiyot and Tony Kidiya, respectively.
After hosting Rayon, Yanga will travel to Kenya on July 17th to face Gor Mahia, which is under former Simba coach Englishman, Dylan Kerr.
And ten days later they will welcome the Kenyan giants at the National Stadium before taking on USM Alger in the return leg encounter on August 17th at the same venue.
Yanga will wind up their group campaign by travelling to Kigali to face Rayon Sports on August 28th, this year.
Performance in CAF competitions
Yanga is one of Tanzania's most capped in this tournament alongside their arch rivals Simba.
However, there have so far been no advancement from the group stage.
They qualified into the group stage was for the first time in 1998 and they failed to qualify for the quarter finals. After that achievement, they went nearly 20 years without repeating that glory.
In 2016 under Dutchman, Hans van Pluijm, Yanga secured another place in the group stage of this tournament and they were pooled alongside TP Mazembe, Medeama and MO Bejaia but also they did not make it out of the group stage.
This is the second time in three seasons for them to be in this stage and they are very keen to progress for the first time.
Meanwhile, USM Alger whose team has regularly taken part in Confederation of African Football (CAF) competitions.
Qualification for Algerian clubs is determined by a team's performance in its domestic league and cup competitions, USM Alger have regularly qualified for the primary African competition, the African Cup, by winning the Ligue Professionnelle 1.
USM Alger are the second Algerian club to reach the final of the CAF Champions League, in 2015, losing the final 4–1 on aggregate to TP Mazembe.
Premier League form
Yanga’s run of eight wins in a row was halted by Singida United after being held by a 1-1 draw and then Mbeya City repeaedt the same fate before being stunned by Simba 1-0 last weekend in the Dar es Salaam derby.
Yanga: LDDWW
The defeat left them with no hopes in the Premier League after going behind Simba by 14 points.
Currently, they sit third at the table with 48 points and they have two games in hand.
USM Alger: WLLDL
Their 3-1 triumph over MC Oran last weekend is the only win for USM Alger in their past five matches in the league. They sit fifth at the table with 42 after 28 games.
Players to watch
Yanga have a long list of injured players who are not in the squad to face the Algerians on Sunday. Yusuph Mhilu will lead the team as the main man and his speed and pace could be key up front.
It will be a tough job for a young star, but he has proved before that he can lead the line alone, in the early round when Yanga played against Wolayta Dicha in Dar es Salaam he was deployed as false number nine in the 2-0 victory and played a key role in both goals.
For USM Alger, Oussama Darfalou is the key man and he is currentlythe team's top scorer with 16 goals in the league and 23 in all competitions.
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