HIGHLY-TOUTED Arnett Gardens will have to pass a ‘litmus test’ against champions Tivoli Gardens if they are to seriously challenge for the National Premier League (NPL) title this season.

Following a crucial away 2-1 win over Village United, Arnett Gardens will host their arch-rivals in the feature encounter at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex at 6:00 pm.

In other games: Waterhouse travel to Reno; Highgate welcome Harbour View to St Mary; Boys’ Town play Montego Bay United; Sporting Central tackle Portmore United and Humble Lion take on Village.

Arnett Gardens, back-to-back winners in 2001 and 2002, are riding on a high, having impressively captured the Corporate Area Claro Champions Cup, and there is a buzz of expectation this season surrounding the ‘Junglists’.

But if that buzz is true, they will have to prove that they are for real against Tivoli Gardens.

New signee Errol Stevens, who made his Jamaican debut against Colombia recently, is expected to again lead from the front.

The skilful, powerful and pacey Stevens will again partner last season’s topscorer Kirk Ramsey in a potent attack that could wreak havoc in the Tivoli backline.

Former St George’s midfielder Girvan Brown, Rohan Reid, Kemar Brown and Newton Sterling, Leon Strickland, Jonathan Williams will prove hard to contain.

However, the champions are no pushovers as they showed against Montego Bay United, rallying from a goal down to snatch a dramatic late 2-1 victory.

Once again, national player Navion Boyd will lead Tivoli’s charge with Mitchily Waul, Jameel Thompson, Shawn McKoy, captain Kasai Hinds and Kemar Flemmings lending support.

At this point, Tivoli’s midfield seems to be its Achilles heel and coach Glendon Bailey will have some work to do.

Two key factor in the game will be the matchup between Jerry Walters, who return to Arnett Gardens from Tivoli Gardens, and former Arnett prodigy Marcelino Blackburn, who signed for Tivoli from Harbour View.

Walters is a hard-tackling player who gained a national call-up, while playing midfield to Tivoli Grdens two season’s ago.

But with Arnett midfield apparently in good stead, Walters will be asked to play ‘stopper’, and that he will have to do perfectly against Boyd and Waul.

If he is able to do that, then Arnett should emerge winners as Tivoli seem short of match winners at the time.

Blackburn, who lives in the Arnett Gardens community, has been a constant thorn while playing for Harbour View and should be motivated enough to be a match winner.

But he was woefully off form against Montego Bay United and was substituted early. However, “Bassa”, as he is known, is a hard worker with a knack for scoring and cannot be ruled out.

The stage is thus set for an intriguing game following their 2-2 draw in the pre-season Champions Cup, but the pace at which Paul “Tegat” Davis has Arnett playing right now should give them the edge.

Another title hopeful, Humble Lion, will also want to prove that they should be taken seriously when they host former champions Portmore United in an interesting match.

Both teams shared a victory apiece last season, but Humble Lion had the last laugh with a crushing 3-0 win in their last outing. Based on that performance, they should be bubbling with confidence of repeating.

Humble Lion, meanwhile, are coming off a good 2-1 win over Harbour View, while Portmore United also had a 2-1 win over another Clarendon team, Sporting Central Academy.

Another epic battle is therefore in store, and Humble Lion might just used their home advantage and secure another win.

Meanwhile, early leaders Waterhouse, who scored a 3-2 win over Highgate last week, should get the better of Reno at Frome.

Midfield general Vincent Earle returns from suspension, and along with Jermaine Anderson, Peter Keyes, Andre Clennon, Damion Williams Akeem Theanstead and Hugh Howell, should prove too hot for Reno.

The Wendell Downswell-coached aggregation were fortunate to beat a wasteful Boys’ Town last week and even playing at home will find Waterhouse a hard nut to crack.

New boys under a new name, Montego Bay United, will play their first home game at Catherine Hall and will want to make it a winning one. Both teams will be hunting their first points following disappointing performances last week.

Montego Bay looked as though they had three points in the bag against Tivoli before giving up two late goals, while Boys’ Town dominated Reno, but their profligacy in front of goal and a glaring goalkeeping error cost them dearly.

However, the edge must be given to the more seasoned Red Brigade as they played some wonderful, attacking football against Reno, and once they start scoring, the home team could be in trouble.

Former champions Harbour View should welcome back their talented playmaker Jermiane Hue from suspension, but will have a difficult game against promoted Highgate at Lynch Park.

The Sporting Central/Village United matchup could go either way at Brancourt.