Premiership defending champions, Mamelodi Sundowns, are aiming to stretch their lead at the top of the log when they visit neighbours SuperSport United in a Pretoria derby on Saturday evening.
Sundowns are still to lose a match so far this season after 14 outings. The two sides played to a 2-all draw when they last met in a league encounter on November 24.
This time SuperSport will welcome the high-flying Sundowns at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
The match against SuperSport United will not be a walk in the park for Mamelodi Sundowns. The last time the two teams clashed, Sundowns survived a big scare from their city rivals.
This was in a match Sundowns conceded their first goal of the season.
In fact, the Brazilians surrendered a two-goal lead and dropped points for a second straight match. Sundowns coach, Manqoba Mgqithi says they were unlucky not to collect maximum points in some of the matches they played so far this season.
“We are working very hard to improve because in all the draws that we got the good thing is that we believe we could have easily converted those draws into wins. We played very well against Supersport, we played very well against Stellenbosch.”
Also on Saturday, Orlando Pirates will want to return to winning ways when they host a resurgent TS Galaxy at the Orlando Stadium.
Galaxy are now 13th on the log after a string of good results under German coach, Sead Ramovic. Galaxy forward, Masilake Phohlongo says they are capable of causing an upset against Pirates.
Masilake Phohlongo says: “I think it’s a good time now to play with pirates you know after the momentum we have, after the game we played, and we won. We are playing at Orlando stadium which is not easy to play there but the spirit is good the guys are doing well. there’s been progress in the last few weeks, but we will go there and show who are we.”
Second from the bottom, Chippa United will host Amazulu on Saturday afternoon. Usuthu will want to continue with their good track record against the Chilli Boys.
Last season, AmaZulu beat Chippa in both league matches. Amazulu captain, Makhehleni Makhaula says they will push for maximum points this weekend.
“It was last season and they have reinforced their squad so, it’s obviously an away game but we need to win we need to convert our chances so yeah it’s not going to be an easy game because we are playing away from home and we need the three points so it’s going to be good for us if we can get the maximum points.”
On Sunday, Golden Arrows have an opportunity to return to the Top 8 bracket. They visit the high-flying Royal AM at the Chatsworth Stadium in a KwaZulu-Natal derby.
Lehlohonolo Seema says: “We are playing a very dangerous and spirited royal am you can see where they are on the log, they’ve been doing well so far. You could see that is a dangerous team, a team that is looking to go forward all the time with any opportunity they get, and we have to guard against their speedy players up front and to make sure that we give them the respect they deserve especially when they have the ball. However, as golden arrows we are focussing more on ourselves, also we believe in ourselves we believe in the team.”
It is still not clear whether Kaizer Chiefs will honour their next DSTV Premiership match on Sunday. Amakhosi finally returned to training this week, following the closure of Kaizer Chiefs Village in Naturena due to a major COVID-19 outbreak.
The club initially reported 31 cases, with a further five cases reported earlier this week.
Chiefs failed to honour their last two matches against Cape Town City and Golden Arrows. They are scheduled to host Sekhukhune United on Sunday evening.
