Hawassa and Shashemene jostle, Mekelakeya face Bahir Dar

Hawassa City take on a resurgent Shashemene City in the first of week 17 fixtures and Mekelakeya hosts Bahir Dar.

The Ethiopian Premier League kicks off its 17th week matches tomorrow at Dire Dawa International Stadium.

The first match of the week will be between the neighbors Hawassa City and Shashmene City.

There are only 21 km between the two cities.

Hawassa Kenema hasn't won the last two matches after registering their first consecutive wins of the season.

They looked like making it three wins on the troth when they scored first in the week 16 match against Fasil Kenema but were eventually defeated 2-1 by the Emperors.

Hawassa have only won 5 of their 16 matches this season, collecting 19 points, placing them 11th on the table.

The Lakers are the worst team defensively, having conceded the most goals in the league, 23.

Shashmene City have been playing their way out of the relegation zone after many weeks languishing in the bottom pile alongside Hambericho.

However, they won against Wolaitta Dicha 2-1 last week, their second win of the season.

This victory pushed them almost out of the relegation zone to 14th, and if they beat Hawassa, this match, they will be placed 13th on the log, one place above relegation.

In the other match of the day, Mekelakeya will host Bahir Dar Kenema.

Mekelakeya have had a great ride this season challenging for the title with only two defeats this far.

However, one of those defeats was against Bahir Dar in the reverse fixture ending 1-2 in favour of The Tana Waves.

Mekelakeya's second defeat was to Hadiya Hosanna 3-2. This puts them back in second place after some weeks, giving the top place to CBE.

They may return to the top again, at least until CBE plays against Hadiya Hosanna on Sunday.

Bahir Dar Kenema's season is not going as expected. They have only one win in their last eight matches.

Degeareg Yigzaw's team has signed three attacking players, and the hope is that they can improve on their goalscoring as they have only scored three goals in their last eight matches.