After a long period of delay and uncertainty about the domestic league, the first games for the new season will be played across the country this weekend. With very important signings made during the transfer period by many clubs, this may yet be one of the most competitive seasons ever. The league also welcomes three new sides to replace Heart of Lions, Great Olympics and B. A. United.

ASHGOLD v MEDEAMA

The biggest game of the weekend will be at the Len Clay Stadium in Obuasi where the defending champions will host the FA Cup winners. The last time the two sides met was a fortnight ago in the curtain raiser Super Cup match. On that occasion, the boys from Tarkwa emerged winners. Despite winning the FA Cup, Medeama were woeful in the league eventually finishing 11th. AshGold will be hoping to avenge that defeat in the battle of mining towns.

HEARTS OF OAK v NEW EDUBIASE

The Accra Sports Stadium will host Hearts of Oak and New Edubiase despite recent concerns about the state of the stadium. However, the venue is not the only thing on test in this game as this will also be the first league fixture for Hearts’ coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi. How will the latest signings of Hearts fare in the league? Both sides struggled last season; narrowly escaping relegation on the last match day. As such they will each be in search of a positive result to appease aggrieved fans.

TECHIMAN CITY v BEREKUM CHELSEA

After securing a place in the top division for the first time, Techiman City are being thrown out almost immediately. Winning games will not be the only headache of the club as they also have to focus their energies on winning an appeal against a decision from the football association to demote them on allegations of bribery and match fixing. The weight of possibly being thrown of the league at any time should work in favour of Chelsea. Last season, Chelsea lost a vital opportunity to claim the league title following a flurry of shocking defeats to the disappointment of their expectant fans.

 
BECHEM UNITED v LIBERTY PROFESSIONALS

The journey from Dansoman to Bechem will be long and weary. But fatigue will not be the only concern for administrators and players of Liberty as they would also need to be worried about the safety of their possessions. This follows a break-in into the visiting team’s dressing room at the Bechem Park where robbers made away with items belonging to members of the AshGold team during a pre-season friendly match. While Liberty finished 5th last season, Bechem really struggled to keep themselves afloat finishing 12th.

DWARFS v DREAMS

Ebusua Dwarfs will be based at the Robert Stadium this season and will be hoping that it would being them the form they had in the divison one league. This game is a battle of newcomers after both sides gained promotion from the second tier last season. Unlike Dwarfs, this would be the first time Dreams would be playing top flight football and it would be a dream come true (pun intended) to get a win in this fixture. The club is famous for being the place where Black Stars and Chelsea defender Baba Rahman was groomed.

WA ALL STARS v HASAACAS

Hasaacas will make the much dreaded journey from the very south-west of the country to its north-west. The Sekondi-based side were impressive last season managing to finish 7th on the table. Conversely, All Stars did not produced consistent results especially in the second half of last season. The home fans would be expecting an improved performance this time round as they trope to the Wa Park this weekend.

INTER ALLIES v ADUANA STARS
Aduana Stars travel south to Tema to face Inter Allies in this equally exciting game. The two sides finished among the top sides last season. The decision by Allies to sell many of their good players to European clubs would be put to the test as they face a formidable opponent which finished third last season. This would be Herbert Addo’s first game as coach for the Tema-based side in the league.

Commentary of key games from around the country will be on the Joy Sports Arena from 3pm, Sunday on Joy 99.7FM.  There'll be live social media updates on our Twitter: @JoySportsGH. Hashtag is #joysports