DStv Premiership: Mamelodi Sundowns to provide stern test for Thabo September and Kwanele Kopo’s Chippa United

The Chilli Boys will travel to the DStv Premiership runaway leaders, Sundowns, for a meeting at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Saturday at 20:00.

Chippa are hoping to keep their unbeaten run under new coaches intact.

Since September and Kopo took charge of the team ahead of the final half of the season, Chippa are yet to taste defeat in four outings in all competitions.

They registered their maiden league win when they led the Chilli Boys to an emphatic 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Richards Bay FC on Wednesday and drew with Cape Town City and Stellenbosch FC.

The duo also led the 10^th-placed Eastern Cape-based men to the Nedbank Cup round of 16 where they will face FC Ravens from the ABC Motsepe League.

On Saturday, they will come up against a Sundowns side that is unbeaten in 16 league outings this season.

Sundowns captain Themba Zwane expects the match to be a closely contested and exciting affair.

“To be honest, it’s not going to be an easy game because whenever we play Chippa, they have that energy that they put in,” Zwane said.

“And on Wednesday they got a good result, and we know that they are going to come at us with full force. But we will be ready for them.

“We saw their game against Richards Bay, and we are going to analyse them properly and plan for the game accordingly to win the game.”

While Sundowns have bossed the fixture with four wins from the past five meetings, the men from the Eastern Cape have always given them a run for their money.

The last time the two teams met, Sundowns won 2-0 early into the season.

Sundowns will be well-rested for the game after their mid-week fixture against TS Galaxy was postponed after the latter’s team bus got involved in an accident.

“I can say it drops the momentum, but at the same time, it gives us (enough time) for recovery to try to rest because we’ve been playing back-to-back games and enough time to also plan for Chippa,” Zwane said.