Last year Etoile were targeting the Champions League trophy

The two group winners go strsight through to a two-leg final in November with a US$330,000 first prize on offer.

Defending champions CS Sfaxien are top of Group A with a two-point advantage over Tunisian rivals Club Africain.

Sfaxien need only a point from the top-of-the-table clash at home to advance.

Club Africain, held 0-0 at home when the teams met two months ago, must win to overtake Sfaxien, who are bidding to become the first team to successfully defend the title.

Egypt's Haras Al Hadood host struggling Angolan side InterClube in Alexandria in the other game in the group with only pride is at stake.

JS Kabylie of Algeria top Group B by two points, but the generally poor travellers are away to second placed Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia on Saturday.

A win for the African champions Etoile will lift them into the final while any other result keeps the Algerian club in first place.

The other fixture in the group is of academic interest only as Al Merreikh of Sudan entertain Asante Kotoko of Ghana in Omdurman.

Two Tunisian clubs could be battling for the Confederation Cup

The group phase of the competition has been characterised by the dominance of home teams and Sfaxien boast a 100 percent record at home.

A strength of the side guided by young coach Ghazi Ghrairi is the wide range of potential scorers led by Ivory Coast striker Blaise Kouassi and Tunisia midfielder Abdelkrim Nafti.

Club Africain, whose sole continental success came in the African Champions Cup (now League) 17 years ago, slipped up two weeks ago when held 1-1 at home by 10-man Haras.

The Tunis-based team also lack a consistent scorer, a problem not shared by Etoile, whose diminutive Nigerian striker Emeka Opara has scored three times in the mini-league phase.

Former African champions Kabylie suffered two-goal losses at Merreikh and Kotoko so it would be surprising if a team coached by Romanian Alexandre Moldovan survived one of the most intimidating African football cauldrons.