Wednesday fixtures Police FC vs Rutsiro FC (Bugesera Stadium, 12.00PM) Rayon Sports FC vs APR FC (Bugesera Stadium, 15.30PM) Espoir FC vs Bugesera FC (Rusizi Stadium, 15.00PM) Marine FC vs AS Kigali (Umuganda Stadium, 15.00PM)
APR FC are setting a record that will be hard to beat for years after going 35 league games unbeaten, a feat that club head coach Adil Erradi wants to extend in Wednesday's derby against arch-rivals Rayon Sports at Bugesera Stadium.
Rayon Sports have not been at their best during this year’s league campaign as they sit third on the league table with five points, five adrift of top joint-table leaders and title favorites AS Kigali and APR.
However, a win against the army side would either bring Guy Bukasa’s team back into the title race or at least boost their chances of participating in African competitions next season.
Prior to resuming their rivalry today, the two teams have met 21 times in the league over the years, with APR winning 10 compared to Rayon’s five, while they shared points on six occasions.
The last time the two rivals met was in December 2019, when a then ten-man APR side beat Rayon 2-0 through striker Lague Byiringiro and club captain Thierry Manzi to maintain an unbeaten run which they haven’t surrendered ever since.
Meanwhile, the derby will be the first for the majority of the much-changed Rayon team and will have players like Congolese star man Heritier Luvumbu who has so far proved to be the club’s key figure in the absence of injured Kevin Muhire.
It is the first time the two teams are going to play in an empty stadium with no fans in attendance, as they are still banned from watching games from the stadium to contain the spread of covid-19,
But with or without fans in the stands, the clash between the two giants proves to be among the top derby games in the region given how it always produces all sorts of entertainment and talking points on and off the field.
The derby results sometimes leave coaches either sacked or suspended as Rayon’s shock derby defeat last season saw their Mexican coach Javier Martinez Espinosa shown the exit door.