Sekhukhune United welcome Golden Arrows to the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Thursday night in what will be only the fifth league meeting between the two sides.
The teams have met four times since Sekhukhune United have been promoted to the top tier.
There has only been one win in this fixture with Sekhukhune United claiming the only victory in four games.
The remaining three matches all ended in a draw with two goalless draws and a 1-1 draw.
Sekhukhune’s 1-0 home win in the corresponding fixture last season is the only league win in this fixture.
Their first meeting came in the 2021/22 season after Sekhukhune United were promoted to the top flight.
🚨 MATCH DAY🚨
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The fixture took place at Emirates Airline Park, Michael Gumede opened the scoring for Arrows and Yusuf Maart equalised from the penalty spot eight minutes from time forcing a 1-1 draw. Sekhukhune were the hosts.
This fixture saw Arrows score their only goal against Sekhukhune thus far, Sekhukhune have kept clean sheets in three of their past four encounters.
The second fixture in the 2021-22 season ended in a 0-0 draw.
In the 2022/23 season, Sekhukhune United won the first match 1-0 at home with Tashreeq Morris scoring the winner, claiming the only win in this fixture. The reverse fixture was a goalless draw.
Sekhukhune United have not lost against Golden Arrows in the league since they first met in 2021/22 (W1 D3).
Arrows have only scored one goal in the past four meetings, their only goal came in their first meeting, a 1-1 draw.
Sekhukhune will be looking to keep up their unbeaten run against Arrows, while Arrows will be looking for their first win.
Sekhukhune United have not conceded a goal in their last three league games against Golden Arrows.
There is yet to be an away winner in this fixture.
Both teams have scored first in games between these sides in September 2021 during their first league clash with Sekhukhune as hosts Arrows took the lead through Michael Gumede only for Yusuf Maart to equalise in the final eight minutes from the spot. Last season Sekhukhune won 1-0 at home.
Both league games between the sides with Sekhukhune as hosts have produced goals, the games with Arrows as hosts have both ended 0-0.
SEKHUKHUNE UNITED
Sekhukhune United sit in ninth position on the DStv Premiership log. They have 10 points from their seven league games (P7 W3 D1 L3).
They come into this match after a 2-1 loss to Kaizer Chiefs away from home.
Before the loss to Chiefs, Sekhukhune were unbeaten in three league matches (W2 D1 L0).
Sekhukhune United’s three victories have all come away from home this season, 1-0 wins against Royal AM and Cape Town City and a 2-0 win against Cape Town Spurs.
Their three wins away from home is the second best in the league along with their opponents Golden Arrows, only Sundowns have more (5).
They have a mixed recent form winning two out their last five, losing two and drawing one. They have scored eight goals and conceded seven goals so far, this season.
Sekhukhune United have lost both their home league games this season 2-1 defeats in August against Sundowns and Moroka Swallows.
Sekhukhune United took the lead in their last league game against Kaizer Chiefs, Amakhosi came back to defeat them 2-1.
They have dropped five points from losing positions this season, only Cape Town Spurs (9) and Stellenbosch (6) have dropped more.
At the same stage last season, Sekhukhune United found themselves in 16th place after seven games and only had six points (P7 W1 D3 L3). While this season they find themselves better off in ninth position on 10 points.
Chibuike Ohizu has scored the most goals for Sekhukhune this season, he has scored three goals in seven games. His three goals came in their second, third and fourth games of the season. He has not scored for three games now. His three goals have managed to win Sekhukhune United six points.
Ohizu also has one assist to his name, giving him four goal contributions so far this season.
Jamie Webber has picked up two goals and two assists so far this season.
The two players have contributed five goals of their teams eight goals, Sekhukhune’s eight goals this season ranks fifth in the league, one goal behind Stellenbosch’s nine goals.
Sekhukhune have only had 15 shots on target thus far. This is the lowest of any team in the league.
They have had 55 total shots (inc blocks), the lowest in the league. Their shot conversion rate (inc blocks) is the second best after Mamelodi Sundowns at 14.55.
Sekhukhune United have kept three clean sheets in their seven games, this ranks them 10th in the league with Royal AM and Stellenbosch.
Sekhukhune have completed the least successful passes in the league; they rank just below Golden Arrows with 1677 passes.
They have attempted 100 tackles, the 3rd least in the league and have won 60 tackles, the 2nd least in the league just above Orlando Pirates on 58.
GOLDEN ARROWS
Golden Arrows travel to the Peter Mokaba Stadium for their fourth away game of the season, they have won three games on the road so far this season.
Their three wins away from home, equals their opponents Sekhukhune. Only Sundowns have more wins on the road (5). They have beaten SuperSport United, Richards Bay and Cape Town spurs away from home, scoring seven goals in these three games.
Arrows have had an impressive start to the season and have only lost once thus far against Mamelodi Sundowns, a 4-0 away loss on 15 August.
They go into this encounter in fourth place on the DStv Premiership log on 14 points, level on points with Moroka Swallows and two points behind second-placed SuperSport United.
A win for them could see them regain second spot. They have played seven games so far (P7 W4 D2 L1).
In comparison at the same stage last season, Arrows found themselves in 12th place on the log standings with eight points and a goal difference of -2.
They are a lot better off this season with six points more and a positive goal difference, good enough to have them in fourth place on the log standings.
They go into this clash on the back of a 2-1 win away to Cape Town Spurs, this result extended their unbeaten run to four games (W3 D1 L0).
Golden Arrows have won six points from losing positions this season, the joint most along with SuperSport United.
Golden Arrows have had 32 shots on target so far this season, the sixth joint best in the league.
Their shot conversion rate of 14.47 is the third best in the league, just behind Thursday’s opponents Sekhukhune.
Arrows have scored 11 goals this season, the second most behind Sundowns. Seven of these goals have come away from home.
Lungelo Nguse is the top scorer in the Arrows team with three goals, he scored the winner in the last outing against Cape Town Spurs. Two of his three goals have come away from home. He has had five shots on target and scored three goals this season.
Ryan Moon has also found the net twice this season, Arrows have seven different goal-scorers in the league so far this season.
Nduduzu Sibiya has three assists to his name for Arrows. This is the joint most assists this season along with Chippa United’s Luvuyo Memela.
Arrows have conceded nine goals this season, they only have two clean sheets so far. The two clean sheets came within their last three matches.
One clean sheet was kept at home against Stellenbosch a 0-0 draw and one away from home against SuperSport United a 3-0 win. They conceded in their last game, a 2-1 win away against Cape Town Spurs.
Arrows have won three games on the road this season having played four away games, last season they won five of 15 road games.
They have won 71 tackles from 104 so far this season.
Arrows have successfully completed 1 691 passes, just 14 more passes than their opponents, this ranks 15th in the league.
Arrows have had the least amount of possession in the league their 40.69% sits just above Sekhukhune United.