SuperSport out to reignite title hopes, Bucs visit Chippa
There are six games to be played in the DStv Premiership this weekend and as usual they will have deep significance at both ends of the table.
As the games come thick and fast, there is plenty for coaches to think about and we have seen a number of sides wilt with fatigue in recent weeks.
Here is our quick guide to the matches.
SuperSport United’s stuttering DStv Premiership title bid will get another test when they welcome TS Galaxy to the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Friday.
Matsatsantsa have won just one of their last seven games in all competitions, and taken only six of the last 18 points available in the league. Despite this they remain in second position, but are three points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns and have played three games more.
They are now reliant on a major slip-up from their Tshwane rivals, but if they are to have any chance need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible.
Galaxy’s revival under coach Owen da Gama has been impressive and they are not looking at a top eight finish rather than a relegation scrap.
Over that same six-game period they are unbeaten with 14 points collected from 18, a total bettered only by AmaZulu (16) in that time.
SuperSport remain unbeaten this season on their own patch from 10 games (W5 D5), but need to start keeping clean sheets if they are to get on a winning run – something they have not managed in any of their last seven games.
SuperSport did manage a comprehensive 3-0 victory away at Galaxy earlier in the season on 9 January, with Thamsanqa Gabuza (two) and Bradley Grobler on the scoresheet. That was before the arrival of Da Gama though.
CAPE TOWN CTY V STELLENBOSCH FC
A Western Cape Derby between two sides with flagging fortunes this season who are in desperate need of a victory.
Stellenbosch in particular will be starting to get edgy having slipped to 13th in the table and without a win in their last eight games – the previous four of which have ended in defeats.
It will be a worrying time for coach Steve Barker, who will now they need to start picking up wins to avoid a relegation scrap that would have seemed most unlikely at the start of the campaign.
The good news is he has a squad that is better than their league position suggests, so there is plenty of room for improvement.
City are on a poor run themselves with no victories in their last five games and two energy-sapping away fixtures against Chippa United in the last week.
Once a free-scoring side, they have only three goals in that time, though as usual they create plenty of opportunities without getting the ball in the back of the net.
It is all very pretty football, but what coach Jan Olde Riekerink will want is results if their minimum ambition of a top-eight place is to be realised.
City won 2-1 in the Cape Winelands earlier in the season, with both sides claiming 1-0 home wins in the last campaign.
CHIPPA UNITED V ORLANDO PIRATES
Pirates look to be returning to something close to their consistent best with six wins (and a draw) in their last seven games as they build momentum going into the second half of the season.
It is fair to say they have not been flowing and fluent, but results are what will matter for them now as they head into a difficult juncture of the campaign as the games come thick and fast with CAF Confederation Cup group stage action as well.
Indeed, this is one of just two DStv Premiership games for Pirates in the next month as the African club competition and Nedbank Cup commitments dominate their fixture list.
They have battled a little on the road, just one win in the last four games (D1 L2) and this will certainly be no easy clash against a resurgent Chippa United side who have become a tough but to crack under coach Dan Malesela.
Chippa have lost just one of their last nine (W3 D5), and that defeat was away at Mamelodi Sundowns, so no shame there. But Malesela would like to turn a few more of those draws into wins.
It is fair to say that Pirates have dominated this fixture in the recent past, winning each of the last 10 encounters, including a 1-0 home success on 16 December.
Chippa have three victories in their 16 previous meetings (the last in May 2015) and there has been just a single draw. At Chippa, Pirates lead the head-to-head 4-2 with that one stalemate.
BLOEMFONTEIN CELTIC V MARITZBURG UNITED
Maritzburg United will hope their last-gasp win over relegation rivals Black Leopards on Tuesday is the turning point of their season and they will move out of the relegation zone with another win in this clash.
That victory over Lidoda Duvha, secured with a penalty in the third minute of injury-time from Thabiso Kutumela, ended a run of four straight defeats in the league for Maritzburg, and was also a rare clean-sheet, just their third all season.
Next they face a tough road trip to one of the hardest placed to go and get a win in the Premiership. Celtic have been beaten just once in their nine home games (W4 D4), which was by Orlando Pirates (0-1 on 1 November).
Added to that, Maritzburg are not great travellers with 4 points from a possible 21 on the road this campaign. Their only win was at Kaizer Chiefs on Jan. 9, but they have not played away since a 2-1 loss at Golden Arrows at the end of January.
The last 10 meetings between the sides have seen five wins for The Team of Choice and three for Celtic, with two draws. Maritzburg won 2-1 at home when the sides met on 2 January.
SWALLOWS V TTM
Swallows’ long unbeaten run came to an end in midweek as they let a late lead slip to go down 2-1 at TS Galaxy, perhaps the excursions of their campaign finally catching up with a squad that has 12 players over the age of 30.
The Birds are winless in their last six league games (D5 L1) to see their slim title hopes fade, and the aim now will be to secure a top eight place with CAF club competition football a bonus.
Their biggest problem has been killing off games, the side have managed more than one goal in just four of their 17 league games this season, and in none of their last eight.
They have managed to find the back of the net in seven of those, but need more than that to start picking up wins.Indeed, of the sides currently in the top eight, only Galaxy (18) have scored fewer than their 20 goals.
The flip side is a strong defence, just 12 goals conceded is bettered by only Mamelodi Sundowns (7) this season, but finding that sweet spot between defence and attack is the next target for coach Brandon Truter.
TTM have seen a revival of their fortunes with back-to-back league wins and an unbeaten run stretching to four games in all competitions.
Their last outing was a 2-2 home draw with Swallows in the Nedbank Cup that they went on to win on penalties, a game they largely dominated in Polokwane and should not really have needed spot-kicks.
BLACK LEOPARDS V LAMONTVILLE GOLDEN ARROWS
Black Leopards will hope to move off the bottom of the DStv Premiership with a home win against a Golden Arrows side that has stumbled in recent weeks.
Indeed, Leopards claimed a 2-1 away victory in Durban as recently as Feb. 23 in a re-arranged fixture after the original was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
The sides meet again just 12 days later and Abafana Bes’thende will have revenge on their minds having also managed only a single victory in their last four games. They played to a 0-0 home draw against another Limpopo side Baroka FC on Wednesday.
Leopards have seen a resurgence in their form with three wins in their last five games, though two of those have come in the Nedbank Cup. They also met KwaZulu-Natal opposition on Tuesday but lost in the dying seconds at fellow strugglers Maritzburg United.
Leopards have won the last three meetings between the sides, all by 2-1 scorelines, while Arrows’ only somewhat recent victory in Limpopo came while both clubs campaigned in the second-tier in the 2014/15 season.
They did also claim a 2-1 away win on the opening day of the 2002/03 season, but aside from that have found no joy in Thohoyandou.
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