Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs will do battle in a Gauteng derby at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday afternoon.
Sundowns began their DStv Premiership campaign with a 2-1 victory over Sekhukhune United at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday evening courtesy of goals from Peter Shalulile and Lucas Ribeiro. Meanwhile, Chiefs drew 0-0 with Chippa United at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday afternoon in their opening fixture.
Amakhosi are desperate to end their nine-year trophy drought but already find themselves behind in the DStv Premiership title race and may have to hedge their bets on the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup considering Sundowns’ dominance in the league, which has seen them win five league trophies in the last five years.
Chiefs ended up finishing fifth last season as they fell by the wayside in the latter stages of the season after looking like they would secure second and CAF Champions League qualification. Meanwhile, the Brazilians won the league with a 16-point gap between them and second-placed Orlando Pirates.
Downs made five signings in the transfer window namely Junior Mendieta, Bathusi Aubaas, Thapelo Maseko, Ribeiro and Lesiba Nku. Meanwhile, Chiefs have recruited seven players namely Mduduzi Mdantsane, Pule Mmodi, Ranga Chivaviro, Edson Castillo, Thatayaone Ditlhokwe, Tebogo Potsane and Given Msimango.
Masandawana completed the double over the Glamour Boys last season with 4-0 and 1-0 victories.
Rivaldo Coetzee is unavailable for the Brazilians after being sent off in the win over Sekhukhune.
𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗨𝗧!!!
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Tickets for tomorrow's #DStvPrem encounter between Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs are SOLD OUT! #FARPost pic.twitter.com/bwFJDK9bPA
Downs coach Rulani Mokwena was pleased with his charges’ performance considering it was their opening match of the season with some cobwebs needing to be dusted off.
“The boys were very brave. They put in a very good shift. The new players, I am very proud of their effort. A lot of work was done to strengthen the squad in the transfers, we got our five and they will settle a bit and try to improve the team,” said Mokwena.
“[Thapelo] Maseko… That’s why we bought him [from rivals SuperSport United]. He gives the team something that we did not have last season. I forget sometimes that Maseko is only 19. He’s got a lot of potential and we just need to continue to help him and coach him and try to get him to give even better performances.”
Meanwhile, Chiefs coach Molefi Ntseki has called for an improvement from his side after an underwhelming performance in the goalless stalemate with Chippa.
“It’s unfortunate we didn’t score, but I think if you look at the different moments of the game, being the first game we did well, except for giving the ball away cheaply, which almost hurt us. But I think without conceding the goal, the boys did very well, they applied themselves. We can’t fault the effort they had to put in, but tactically speaking we can do better,” said Ntseki.
“It’s important to take shots at goal, because we can’t break a deep block with those short passes. What is important is how do we add numbers? What type of crosses do you put in? I think that’s something we will be working on.”
