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DStv Premiership to get underway with a bang

football05 August 2022 08:18| © Mzansi Football
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The DStv Premiership gets underway on Friday as Cape Town City host Mamelodi Sundowns in the Mother City, the start of a long nine-month battle for the title. Catch all the action live on SuperSport and Showmax Pro.

SuperSport.com picks out the key facts and figures from this weekend’s opening round of matches.

CAPE TOWN CITY VS MAMELODI SUNDOWNS

It is second against first in the table from last season as the champions have one of the toughest away days in the DStv Premiership with City unbeaten at home in almost a year – a run of 13 matches.

One of those games was a 0-0 draw in Cape Town in the league last season, and the teams have in fact drawn their last three contests, including the 2021 MTN8 final that Sundowns won on penalties.

Sundowns have found victories hard to come by in Cape Town with only one in their last four visits (D1 L2). City also beat Sundowns at ‘home’ in the Gauteng bio-bubble.

LAMONTVILLE GOLDEN ARROWS VS RICHARDS BAY

A KwaZulu-Natal Derby as Lamontville Golden Arrows host newly-promoted Richards Bay in what is a first-ever meeting between the two sides.

Golden Arrows have much the same squad as last season, so will have continuity on their side, but it is all change for Richards Bay after they topped the second-tier last season.

Abafana Bes’thende had the joint worst defence last season with 40 goals conceded, the same as relegated Baroka FC, and that is one area they will be desperate to improve on.

Richards Bay have former Golden Arrows striker Michael Gumede in their squad, so he will know where all the holes in the defence are.

ORLANDO PIRATES VS SWALLOWS FC

The original Soweto Derby if you believe this Swallows Fc are the same club as the old Moroka Swallows, otherwise it is a tie between two sides with perhaps differing ambitions this campaign.

Pirates must be title challengers under new coach Jose Riveiro, anything else will be viewed as failure, while Swallows might see survival as their major aim having survived the playoffs by the skin of their teeth in 2021-22, but then arguably seen their squad weakened by departures.

Only two clubs have beaten Pirates in their last 58 home league matches – Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs, who have both managed it twice.

MARUMO GALLANTS VS STELLENBOSCH FC

A debut for new Gallants coach Romain Folz, who at 32 is the youngest permanent head coach in the history of the PSL.

It is not quite a baptism of fire, but Stellenbosch will be a tricky opponent and having finished fourth in the last campaign, the Winelands club will definitely be looking at a top three position in 2022-23.

The last four meetings between these sides have all been won by the home side, with the away team not managing to score a goal. The last three of those games ended 1-0, and it is likely to be that tight again.

ROYAL AM VS KAIZER CHIEFS

Royal AM did the ‘double’ over Kaizer Chiefs last season, including an emphatic 4-1 victory at FNB Stadium, but things have changed quite significantly since then.

This will be a debut as a permanent coach for Chiefs’ Arthur Zwane, who has also seen his squad refreshed with a number of new players in this transfer window, while a lot of the experience in his squad has been let go.

Royal AM have been fairly quiet in the transfer market, bringing in a few new names, but their ex-Chiefs striker Samir Nurkovic is set to sit this one out through injury.

Royal AM exceeded expectations last season but did not win any of their last seven games, leading to the exit of coach John Maduka, who has been replaced by three co-coaches in Dan Malesela, Khabo Zondo and Abram Nteo.

MARITZBURG UNITED VS SEKHUKHUNE UNITED

Sekhukhune had an excellent start to last season following their promotion to the top flight, but were the worst team in the league in the second half of the campaign.

They have had a massive overhaul of their squad – and it was needed – and will this year look to score more goals with their total of 21 in the previous campaign the lowest among the 16 DStv Premiership clubs.

New striker Victor Letsoalo should help with that, but Maritzburg are notoriously miserly on their own patch and will be no pushovers. The teams have met on three previous occasions with a win each and a draw. Sekhukhune won 2-0 at Maritzburg last season.

TS GALAXY VS AMAZULU

There has not been much to choose between these two sides in the last couple of seasons, with AmaZulu claiming two wins to Galaxy’s one in their four previous clashes.

But those victories for both sides have all come by a slender one-goal margin and they are teams that battled for goals in the last campaign.

Usuthu have brought in Gabadinho Mhango to try and remedy that, part of a huge overhaul of their squad, as they look ahead under coach Brandon Truter.

Galaxy have renewed the contract of coach Sead Ramovic and will not expect to be in a relegation scrap again this year. You feel a good start is important to build confidence and avoid that.

SUPERSPORT UNITED VS CHIPPA UNITED

Gavin Hunt starts his second spell at SuperSport against the team that sacked him last season, and versus a former player of his in the opposite dugout.

This will be a debut for Daine Klate as Chippa coach against his former side Matsatsantsa, where he played under Hunt, before later reuniting with his mentor at BidVest Wits.

Both of these teams will be looking for big improvement this season, but while SuperSport have made small tweaks in the transfer market, Chippa virtually have a new team with 18 new arrivals.

Chippa have not won any of their previous nine visits to SuperSport, which have resulted in four home wins and five draws.

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