Vipers return to league duty on Wednesday with their sights firmly set on a fourth straight win, as the champions make the short trip to Nakivubo for a showdown with an unpredictable Express FC side.
The Venoms have opened the Uganda Premier League season with ruthless efficiency, sweeping aside Entebbe UPPC, KCCA and Maroons to maintain a perfect record.
Their most recent success, a tense 2–1 triumph over Maroons, featured clinical finishes from Yunus Sentamu and Arafat Usama, further energising Ivan Minnaert’s buoyant squad.
While the performances have not always sparkled, especially in the narrow 1-0 escapes against KCCA and UPPC, Vipers have shown the cold-blooded composure expected of champions. For Minnaert, Wednesday’s fixture is another opportunity to prioritise results over aesthetics, with the Belgian tactician fully aware that momentum is gold in a title chase.
A win would push Vipers to 12 points and cut the gap on early pacesetters SC Villa to four, though Villa’s tally is inflated by having played three more matches. The real narrative, however, is the looming rescheduled Matchday One encounter between Villa and Vipers on Saturday, a potentially defining early-season marker.
Express, on the other hand, approach the contest with both optimism and caution. The Red Eagles have endured a turbulent start marked by inconsistency, two victories, three draws and two defeats from seven matches, leaving their faithful unsure which version of the team will show up.
Their recent goalless draw with Lugazi doubled as the debut outing for new head coach Jimmy Kintu, freshly arrived from Calvary following Badru Kaddu’s departure to NEC.
In many ways, Wednesday’s match represents an early examination of Kintu’s rebuilding project. Express have struggled to replicate the swagger of their COVID-era title-winning run and have already tasted defeat at Nakivubo this season after falling to KCCA.
With Vipers in town, the minimum target will be to avoid another home setback, though a win would ignite belief and potentially flip the mood around Nakivubo.
Last season’s encounter at Nakivubo offered a reminder that this fixture rarely disappoints. Express stormed into a 2-0 halftime lead courtesy of then-skipper Emmanuel Alex Wasswa, but the Venoms responded with fury, Allan Okello pulling one back before Gusto Mulongo’s dramatic 90th-minute equaliser sealed a pulsating 2-2 draw.
With both sides desperate for points for very different reasons, Wednesday’s clash promises tension, intensity and the possibility of another classic under the Nakivubo lights.
