St George and Ethiopia Coffee reignite Sheger derby

St George are Ethiopia's most successful Club but when they face City rivals Ethiopia Coffee in the Sheger derby on Saturday at the Abebe Bekila Stadium in Adama, they will be up against a ferocious foe

The Sheger derby is not just the biggest fixture in Ethiopia but also one of the biggest in East Africa and indeed all of Africa as both Clubs once again attempt to reclaim their places as the kings of Ethiopian Football and indeed Addis Ababa where it was played regularly before the new league format took the game on the Road.

St George are the reigning BetKing Ethiopia premier League champions after reclaiming their crown from Fasil Kenema who won the first edition under the rebranded BetKing Sponsorship and broadcast partnership with SuperSport and DStv.

Ethiopia Coffee showed their class two seasons ago inspired by their now departed golden Boy, Abubekher Nasir who broke scoring records in the 2020/21 season to led Coffee into the second position behind Fasil while St George struggled

However, while a resurgent St George revived their squad with Smart acquisitions, Coffee floundered, unable to keep up as Abubekher produced a late goalscoring masterclass last season before heading to South African Giants, Mamelodi Sundowns.

They watched on as St George and Fasil Kenema became the star attraction.

KEY MEN:

In the absence of such stalwarts as Getaneh Kebede and Saladin Seid who led the line remarkably for Sy George, Togolese Striker, Ismail Ouro-Agoro has stepped up as the Key man supported by Amanuel Gebremichael and Chernet Gugsa.

Ethiopia Coffee have Mesfin Tafesse and Biruk Beyene, two extremely talented Strikers whose Coffee motivations include the Sheger Derby.

MISSING IN ACTION

Ethiopia Coffee didn't just lose Abubekher Nasir, but also William Solomon and Tafesse Solomon

Who helped make them so formidable.

St George on their part surprisingly let Lenean Markneh go to the Defence Force, as well as losing Desta Demu and Saladin Bergecho.

FORM GUIDE

St George currently sit on the 2nd position on the log 1 point behind leaders, Ethiopia Insurance who are on 26 points going into the Chan break but Ethiopia Coffee are way down in the 8th position with 17 points

St George are unbeaten in their last 5 games, with 3 wins and 2 draws, and Ethiopia Coffee on the other hand have 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats.

HEAD TO HEAD:

St George leads the stakes when it comes down to head to head and their recent fixture in the first round of the league ended 4-0 in favour of the Horsemen.

It was a humiliating defeat for Coffee who have been playing catchup ever since while St George try to keep up with new title challengers, Ethiopian Insurance.

The Horsemen have won 20 of the 33 games between the teams with Coffee winning 7 and 16 of the games ending in draws

RECENT MEETINGS - LAST FIVE GAMES

Ethiopia Coffee 0 - 4 Saint George
Saint George 4 - 1 Ethiopia Coffee
Ethiopia Coffee 0 - 1 Saint George
Saint George 2 - 3 Ethiopia Coffee
Ethiopia Coffee 1 - 0 Saint George

LEAGUE TITLES

Saint George Has 15 premier league titles as Ethiopia Buna won only once.

INTERNATIONAL TEAMMATES

So, as the BetKing Ethiopia Premier League returns after a midseason break occasioned by the ongoing African Nations Championship in Algeria where Ethiopia have been knocked out

National team Coach, Wubate Abate had included several Players from both St George and Coffee and it meant a great deal of national pride and brotherliness over the course of their camping and staying together through the tournament but all that will be put aside.

Bahiru Negash, Remedan Youssef, Mignot Debebe, Gatouch Panom, Amanuel Gebremichael, Chenet Gugsa and Suleiman Hamid joined the squad from St George

The Ethiopia Coffee contingent included Amanuel Yohanes, Berket Amare, Asrat Tunjo and Gezahegn Desalegn

DERBY PRIDE

What makes the Sheger derby extra special is it's quality which can be compared to any of the big derbies on the African continent and on a good day can be considered one of the top 5.

Zamalek v Al Ahly in Egypt, Raja Casablanca v Wydad Casablanca in Morocco, Esperance v Club African in Tunisia, Kaizer Chiefs v Orlando Pirates in South Africa, Yanga v Simba in Tanzania, Accra Hearts of Oak v Ashanti Kotoko in Ghana, AFC Leopards v Gor Mahia in Kenya are some of the big rivalries across Africa

St George and Ethiopia Coffee bring everything to the party, passion, the fans, the colours, the sound, the dancing, and the pride.