Kitchee clashes heads with Eastern Long Lions in t

Kitchee will take on Eastern Long Lions on Saturday afternoon in one of the biggest premier league games of the season so far, going head-to-head against its table-topping arch-rival in Mongkok stadium. The match will kick-off at 5:30pm and Kitchee supporters are encouraged to show up in droves and to lend their support to the Blues. Kitchee was forced to a disappointing draw by BC Glory Sky last weekend and dropped two valuable points in the process. The team currently trails Eastern Long Lions by two points in the premier league standing and the weekend clash presents the Blues with a great opportunity to make up on lost ground. As a matter of fact, the two sides have met once earlier this season in the Community Cup and while Kitchee fell short 1:3 on the occasion, the side nevertheless had several key performers on the bench that day, making it a difficult game to gauge. On the other note, new striker Orhan Mustafi is ready to make his debut for the Blues on Saturday and will relish the opportunity to introduce himself to the Kitchee faithfuls with a goal or two. Silky smooth attacker Fernando Pedreira stresses the team needs to move on from last weekend’s league draw and channels every bit of attention towards the Eastern Long Lions match. “We are obviously a bit down after last weekend’s draw against BC Glory Sky but the beautiful thing about football is that another game is always just around the corner. We now have a big game coming up and we need to be absolutely focused on the tasks on hand,” said the Brazilian forward. “The Kitchee versus Eastern Long Lions game is what they call a “six-pointer” and we want to pick up the points and close the gap between us and the opponent, I have been donning my moustache for Movember in a charity spirit so hopefully, it will bring me good luck on the occasion.” Midfield lynchpin Jared Lum, who is also donning a moustache in support of Movember, talks about staying level-headed ahead of the big clash. “We had a good team talk earlier in the week and spoke about treating this game as just another one. We know there will be a big crowd on hand with vital points on the line but yet, we will try to stay focused, keep playing our style and go from there.” The all-action midfielder also touches on teaming up with several teammates and throwing their collective support behind Movember. “It all started several weeks ago when someone walked into the dressing room with the moustache. Then Helio (Goncalves), Matt (Lam), Fernando (Pedreira) and myself all decided to join in, hoping to generate some awareness for Movember and to raise some money. However, half way through the month, I think the partners of Helio and Matt were not that impressed with their new looks so those two had to shave them off. So for now, Fernando and myself are the last ones standing,” Lum said with a grin.