HARARE - CAPS United are on the verge of signing midfielder Nicholas Alifandika and forward Honey Chimutimunzeve to boost their squad ahead of this weekend’s Harare derby against rivals Dynamos.
Alifandika and Chimutimunzeve, who have been playing for former Castle Premiership side Black Mambas in the Navi World Division One for the past seven months, yesterday trained with the Green Machine at Lafarge Stadium in Mabvuku.
If the duo completes their move by the end of the week, it will be a welcome relief for CAPS coach Taurai Mangwiro, who desperately needs to find a regular scorer upfront in the second half of the season.
Makepekepe forwards like Pervington Zimunya, Leonard Fiyado and Ishmael Thindwa have failed to weigh in with the goals this season.
The only player who seems to have found some scoring rhythm is striker Dominic Chungwa with six goals in the first 15 matches of the season.
Chimutimunzeve, a product of the Aces Youth Soccer Academy, is speedy forward and can provide the elusive goals if he is given a regular supply.
Alifandika, who made his name at Underhill before moving to Dynamos, is a trickery winger and also has an eye for goal.
“We hope to beef up our squad with Honey Chimutimunzeve and Nicholas Alifandika. The deal is not yet confirmed but we hope to bring them on board,” Mangwiro told the Daily News yesterday.
“We will see how the deal unfolds. We are in talks with Mambas and there are one or two conditions which need to be met. I would love to believe the sooner we have them the better.
“Hopefully we will have a strong second half of the season. I hope these new players will help in bringing in competition.
“We have not been scoring and we are expecting these guys to bring that much needed killer punch upfront.”
CAPS are still smarting from the 1-0 defeat at the hands of DeMbare in the One Wallet Cup first round at the weekend at the National Sports Stadium.
This weekend’s match will be the third minutes between the two Harare giants inside three weeks after they met in the league prior to that cup clash.
The first league meeting between the two teams ended in a 1-1 draw at the same venue two weeks ago.
Looking at weekend’s match against their rivals, whom they have failed to beat in a competitive match since 2009, Mangwiro said they have put the cup defeat behind them and urged his players to respond well.
“We are fancying our chances on Sunday. We have since put behind the defeat that we suffered and we are now looking forward to the new challenge,” he said.
“I felt there were a lot of positives from that defeat and there are few areas that we need to work on going into this match on Sunday. We have analysed that game and addressed our weaknesses.
“Our away record has been poor in the first half of the season but we improved later on. So I think we can have balance our away and home form then we will have a strong say for the title.
“We are unbeaten at home and it’s important to build on it in our quest for the championship. It’s not going to be easy but it will require a lot of work from everyone at the team.”
Friday: How Mine v Black Rhinos (Luveve).
Saturday: Chapungu v Triangle United (Ascot), Chicken Inn v ZPC Kariba (Luveve).
Sunday: Dynamos v Caps United (National Sports Stadium, SS), Chiredzi v Buffaloes (Chishamiso), Bantu Rovers v Highlanders (Barbourfields), Shabanie Mine v FC Platinum (Maglas), Hwange v Harare City (Colliery).