Mathare United head coach John Kamau is hoping his charges can get back to winning ways when they take on Mara Sugar at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, this weekend.
The Slum Boys are coming off a disappointing 1-0 loss to reigning league champions Kenya Police.
Aboud Omar's early first-half strike bagged all three points for the law enforcers. The result left Mathare on 15 points from their 10 league outings.
Kamau highlighted a need for his charges to sharpen their finishing ahead of their tie against Mara Sugar. "We need to ensure we work on finishing the chances we create in our games," Kamau said.
Initially, Mathare were set to take on Nairobi United in the SportPesa League fixture, but had their match postponed as Naibos were taking on continental duties against DR Congo's AS Maniema Union in the CAF Confederation Cup.
With the tie postponed, the Slum Boys have more time to sharpen their edges before taking on Mara.
"The match, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday at the Nyayo Stadium, has been postponed to a later date due to Nairobi’s CAF Confederations Cup engagements."
"As it stands now, our next league game will be in two weeks, on Saturday, December 6, against visiting Mara Sugar at the MISC Kasarani," the club announced in a statement.
Reflecting on the Kenya Police tie, Kamau noted that the team should have bagged all three points. "We deserved something from the game."
He noted that despite playing the reigning champions, they were the better side.
"Despite playing last year's champion, we dominated the match."
He lamented the team’s poor finishing in front of the goal. "We created a lot of chances, but it's not a matter of creating chances only; we needed to finish those chances."
The Slum Boys’ poor finishing form has been evident since the 2025/26 campaign began, securing only three wins.
Their victories include narrow 1-0 triumphs over KCB and Shabana, as well as a 2-0 win over Kakamega Homeboyz.
Mathare have endured five losses against Posta Rangers and Kariobangi Sharks, both 2-1, as well as Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards 2-0 losses, before falling 1-0 to Police.
They, however, head into the Mara Sugar tie hoping for improved results from last season.
During the 2024/25 season, both teams shared the spoils over the two legs. In the first leg, Mara thumped Mathare 3-0 courtesy of strikes from David Owino, Batts Awita and Noah Jagongo.
In the reverse fixture, the Slum Boys exacted revenge, securing a hard-fought 2-1 victory.
