Bulawayo giants Highlanders Football Club will begin their 2018 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign with a home fixture against army side Black Rhinos.
This follows the official release of the fixtures by the Premier Soccer League on Wednesday.
The league is expected to kick off on March 17 with seven stadiums, including Babourfields Stadium, given the green light to host premiership matches.
Highlanders who boast of a youthful side, made wholesale changes discarding most senior players, when Madinda Ndlovu bounced back to lead the club where he made his name as both a player and coach.
Black Rhinos convincingly beat Highlanders by three goals to nil in the first round of fixtures last season before Highlanders claimed a 2 nil win in Bulawayo in the reverse fixture.
Bosso, as they are affectionately known by his legion of supporters, has done well in preparatory matches ahead of the start of the league.
Last week, the former champions beat Caps United by two goals to one in a friendly match played at Babourfields Stadium.
Cross town rivals, Chicken Inn, who had an indifferent season, will once again clash with Harare giants Dynamos, in their opening fixture, for the second season in a row.
Dynamos won that match by one goal to nil.
Another Bulawayo-based team, Bulawayo Chiefs, who survived relegation by a whisker in the last season will be hoping for a good start when they travel to Harare to face Yadah.
Meanwhile, defending champions FC Platinum will begin their league defence with a tricky encounter against ZPC Kariba.
