Dire Dawa Kenema and Ethiopia Coffee will square up in the BetKing Ethiopia Premier League on Thursday, while Commercial Bank of Ethiopia take on Hadia Hossana.

Both matches will take place at the Adama Science and Technology Stadium.

Coach Asrat Abate will lead out his Dire Dawa Kenema squad against an in-form Ethiopia Coffee side under the tutelage of Nicola Kavazovic.

Dire Dawa Kenema got their season off to a good start with a hard-fought 2-1 win over new boys Hambericho Durame, while Ethiopia Coffee beat Sidama Coffee 1-0 courtesy of a stunning Ermias Shumbeza goal.

Ethiopia Coffee are on a great run since the appointment of Kavazovic and they have been unbeaten in 13 friendly matches leading up to the start of the league.

They will be buoyed by the expected return of Amanuel Yohannes and Abdulkarim Worku. However, Robel Teklemikael and Mohammadur Nasir will miss out due to injuries.

Thursday's second game will feature one of the newly promoted sides as Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, also known as Ethiopia Nigd Bank, host Hadiya Hossana.

In their first match in the Premier League following their promotion, Ethiopia Nigd Bank played out a tight goalless draw against Adama City and will hope to build on that since the other promoted teams lost their opening fixtures.

They were one of the most active sides in the transfer window with formidable signings.

However, Hadiya Hossana will be a different ball game as they have been reinforced with some experienced players who have joined up in the last transfer window.

Coach Yohannes Sahle's team suffered a 3-2 defeat in the first game to the mighty Mekelakeya and will be keen to turn their fortunes around on Thursday.