Sundowns eyeing 10th straight win for visit of Chippa

Mamelodi Sundowns will look to continue their march towards an unprecedented sixth consecutive DStv Premiership title when they host Chippa United at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday evening.

Kick-off is at 7.30pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

The Brazilians appear to be unstoppable once more, having recovered from a bumpy start to the season to sit 10 points clear of the chasing pack after 15 games.

Rulani Mokwena's side beat surprise package Richards Bay 2-0 in Durban on Friday to register their ninth win on the spin in the league and Natal Rich Boyz coach Vasili Manousakis admitted afterwards that Sundowns were playing "Playstation" football such was their dominance.

Mokwena paid tribute to his players for another outstanding performance to see off the top-flight newcomers, who have been their closest challengers for much of the opening four months of the campaign.

"It's the culture of the club, I think the DNA of the club is 'Shoe Shine and Piano'. It's a style that was created many years ago by many legends," he said.

"It's about the quality of the players, you cannot speak about how well we played without speaking about the quality of our players."

The Chilli Boys have been slow out of the blocks since the domestic action resumed just over a week ago, drawing 1-1 with Stellenbosch before going down 2-0 to Swallows on Friday.

The loss to the Dube Birds extended Chippa's winless run to four matches and saw them drop to ninth in the table, tied with Orlando Pirates, Cape Town City and Golden Arrows on 19 points.

Morgan Mammila, who won his first four games at the helm since replacing Daine Klate in September, has played down Masandawana's quality, insisting it is easy to prepare for encounters against them.

"Sundowns is the simplest team to play against," he declared. "Even a DDC player will tell you how they play. They are easy to play and plan against.

"But the only difference is that they are mastering the system. I hear people talking about their depth and quality. No! There's no such thing. Half of those players at Sundowns were fighting relegation.

"I don't even need to do a video session when I am playing them. When they lose or have the ball, all of them are marking or all of them are opening up. There's no star there."

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Mamelodi Sundowns

Themba Zwane: The 33-year-old attacking midfielder was again at the heart of Sundowns' most threatening moves against Richards Bay and almost got his name on the scoresheet on two occasions. Zwane remains a key component for the Brazilians despite his advancing years and has featured in 13 of their 15 league encounters, contributing one goal and one assist in the process.

Cassius Mailula: The 21-year-old continued his fine form for Downs, opening the scoring against the Natal Rich Boyz with a well-taken first-time finish to register his fifth goal in five outings. Mailula is making it hard for Mokwena to leave him out at the moment and is just one goal behind teammate Peter Shalulile in the scoring charts.

Chippa United

Ronaldo Maarman: The 23-year-old attacking midfielder is enjoying a promising debut season at Chippa and has seized his chance under Mammila. Maarman made his ninth appearance of the campaign against Swallows but was unable to add to his tally of three goals and one assist.

Etiosa Ighodaro: The 21-year-old Nigerian striker certainly doesn't look out of his depth in the DStv Premiership after making the switch from University of Pretoria in August last year. Ighodaro has already bagged four goals in 10 outings for the Chilli Boys and will be looking to cause the Sundowns defence problems in midweek.