Cape Town City will be keen to extend their unbeaten run in the DStv Premiership when they host AmaZulu FC at the DHL Stadium on Sunday.
Kick-off is at 5:00 pm CAT.
FORM
The Citizens stretched their unbeaten record to five matches in the league when they drew 0-0 with Mamelodi Sundowns away on Tuesday and it was their second successive draw.
The Western Cape side is placed fifth on the DStv Premiership standings - six points behind fourth-placed Kaizer Chiefs and second-placed SuperSport United with six games left.
While AmaZulu recorded their third successive defeat across all competitions when they lost 1-0 to Swallows FC at home on April 1 and it was also their second consecutive loss in the league.
Usuthu are placed 12th on the league DStv Premiership standings - four points above the relegation zone and three points behind sixth-placed Richards Bay.
TEAM NEWS
City will be without Brice Ambina and Thamsanqa Mkhize who will be serving their suspensions against AmaZulu.
Meanwhile, AmaZulu reshuffled their technical team with Romain Folz being appointed technical director, while Ayanda Dlamini took over as interim coach.
Usuthu will be without the suspended Repo Malepe, while Ramahlwe Mphahlele has been recalled by the club after being released last week.
WHAT WAS SAID
Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler
“We needed to utilise the space behind them (Sundowns) a little bit better and we spoke about that at halftime. We created one or two chances, but so did they in that first half," Tinkler said.
“At the start of the second half, I made that change with Ambina because they were overloading that middle of the park with (Neo) Maema, (Teboho) Mokena and (Marcelo) Allende. We needed to fix that and Ambina came in and I thought we dealt with that a lot better, but then once he got the red card.
“That put us on the back foot and we now had to look to play on the counter and hold out as much as we possibly could. In the end, it was a brave performance, a hard-working performance from the team."
AmaZulu interim coach Ayanda Dlamini
"The preparations have been very good. It is my third day since I took over. We know we have a very tough game at the weekend away to Cape Town City," Dlamini said.
"It is never easy to go there. The mood [in the camp] is very good, everyone understands the situation we are in as we are placed 12th on the log at the moment. We are being positive. It depends on the results and the whole thing changes, if we get one win we will be in the top eight.
"But if we lose the situation gets worse. We know what is expected of us and we know what we want. The mood is good and the players are positive. I am hoping for a very good game."
Cape Town City: PLAYERS TO WATCH
Darren Keet: The experienced goalkeeper is one of the reasons why City are undefeated in their last five league games having kept eight clean sheets in the competition this term and he will be eager to add to his tally against AmaZulu.
Khanyisa Mayo: City will pin their hopes of securing a victory over AmaZulu on the Bafana Bafana international who has hit the back of the net seven times in the league this season and he has also provided two assists in the process.
AmaZulu FC: PLAYERS TO WATCH
Riaan Hanambub: The Namibia international is one of the crossers of the ball in the country having grabbed two assists in the current campaign and his delivery from wide areas and set-pieces could create problems for City's defence.
Bonginkosi Ntuli: The bulky centre forward played some of his best football in 2020 under coach Dlamini and he ended up scoring 13 league goals in the 2019-20 season. Ntuli could be the player to inspure AmaZulu to a win over City.