Orlando Pirates will be looking to bounce back from defeat and register their first win of the DStv Premiership season against winless Royal AM at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.
The Buccaneers succumbed to a 1-0 defeat in their opening DStv Premiership encounter against Stellenbosch at the Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday, despite being the dominant side during the encounter.
Bucs head coach Jose Riviero was disappointed with the loss but felt his side played well but were thwarted by committed defending from a hardworking Stellenbosch.
Stellenbosch land the first blow against Pirates 👊
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) August 5, 2023
Van Wyk scores the club’s first goal of the 2023/2024 season ✅
📺 Stream #DStvPrem live: https://t.co/TesYUfo62x pic.twitter.com/zlM4qYrazi
“I hope everybody is coming to defend in a low-block (defends deep in their half) against Pirates because most of the time we are going to beat them,” said the Spaniard in a post-match interview.
The Mayfair-based side also handed debuts to Patrick Maswanganyi and Katlego Otladisa, with fellow new signings Melusi Buthelezi, Karim Kimvuidi, Lesedi Kapinga and Sephelo Baloni all still waiting to be unleashed.
Meanwhile, Royal AM played to a goalless draw in their KwaZulu-Natal derby opener against rivals Amazulu at the Harry Gwala Stadium.
Thwihli Thwahla, as Royal AM is affectionately known, did not include any new players in their first clash as they are still serving a transfer ban until they pay former striker Samir Nurkovic R12 million for terminating his contract unlawfully.
However, reports say the club has been assessing players and will announce them once they have paid Nurkovic and have their transfer ban lifted, which is unlikely to happen before they play the Buccaneers.
Orlando Pirates are yet to lose a league fixture against Royal AM, winning once and drawing the other three clashes between them. None of those matches has ended goalless.
