The Togafuafua Premier Men’s team will open the top 8 of the Upolu Senior League competition against Lupe o le Soaga.

The clash in the elimination round is a critical one for the teams with Togafuafua Coach, Rodney Stowers, saying it could be one of the hardest games in the competition.

“The game will be very tough, and I’m sure people will be expecting the same results from our team since we didn’t do well in the National League," Stowers said.

“We struggled in our preparations as we weren’t allowed to use the Marist brother’s fields where we usually train but we will try and put in a game plan to counter the Lupe o le Soaga team."

Lupe o le Soaga are the undefeated team in the Premier men’s competition.

But Coach Paul Ualesi says they are not underestimating any team.

“The tournament is not over yet so we cannot be comfortable or become complacent after the results of the round-robin," he said. 

"With the elimination round, every single game counts if we want to win. Our team has worked hard and just as prepared for any opponent. We respect Togafuafua and I know they are coming out to win as well.”

For the Women’s division, Moata’a will play against the Lepea FC team who progressed to the top 8 after securing a win against Sogi SC.

 Coach Rudy Matavao of the Lepea FC team is confident. 

“We are expecting a really tough match and at the same time, we come in full of confidence that if we can play the way that we can then we know that we should be able to get the results that we want," she said. 

Those desired results are victories that would see them advance to the knockout stages.

Moata’a Women’s team suffered a shock 0-1 defeat in the last match of the round to Lupe o le Soaga, which labored the point that nobody in the competition can be taken lightly.

“We lost two games in a row against Faleasiu and Lupe o le Soaga in the single round-robin. We have worked on those mistakes and we’ll stay focused on our game and won’t change too much, Fulisia Talia said.

The elimination round of the Upolu Senior League competition will kick off tonight at the JS Blatter, Complex Tuana’imato. 

All teams will be working towards the goal of finishing in the top four of the group to push on to the semi-finals.