Quick guide to the MTN8 quarterfinals

Domestic football switches focus to the MTN8 this weekend with four intriguing quarterfinal ties as clubs take aim at the R8-million first prize.

Here is quick guide to the games, with some of the teams having already clashes in the DStv Premiership this season.

CAPE TOWN CITY VS AMAZULU

This is no longer such a grudge match since Benni McCarthy left AmaZulu, but is likely to be a tight contest between two teams who love a goalless draw.

It is also the second year in succession they will clash in the MTN8, with last year’s quarterfinal played in Durban in a reversal of the current roles.

City claimed an unexpected 2-1 triumph on that occasion and went all the way to the final before losing on penalties to Mamelodi Sundowns in the decider.

Usuthu have generally had the better of clashes between these sides despite that cup loss last year. They have seven wins and only three defeats in the 13 previous clashes, which includes a 2-1 league win already this campaign.

City coach Eric Tinkler has success in the MTN8 before, he led SuperSport United to the title in 2017 with victory over City in the final.

ROYAL AM VS ORLANDO PIRATES

Orlando Pirates’ only trophy success since 2014 was their MTN8 win two years ago and they are a club in desperate need of more joy after a difficult 2021/22 campaign.

But they face a difficult away quarterfinal at a venue that proved very tough for visitors in Royal AM’s maiden topflight campaign, Indeed, it was their home form that was the driving factor behind their third-place finish.

The teams played to a pair of draw last season, though Pirates have already won at Royal AM in this campaign when they claimed a 1-0 league win some 10 days ago.

In fact, Sundowns and Pirates are the only sides to beat Royal AM in Chatsworth since their opening league game of last season.

No team has won more MTN8 titles that Pirates’ three since the competition was first played in its current guise in 2008.

STELLENBOSCH FC VS KAIZER CHIEFS

Kaizer Chiefs will have to make a trip down to the Cape Winelands for their quarterfinal, though it will be familiar territory for a few of their players.

They have recently signed Ashley du Preez and Zitha Kwinika from Stellenbosch ahead of the new season, and also previously brought on board Phathutshedzo Nange at the start of the last campaign.

Chiefs’ barren trophy run is already a club record and now stretches to seven seasons, something that would have seen inconceivable to past generations.

New coach Arthur Zwane has already seen his side lose three of their opening five league games and can ill-afford an early exit in the MTN8, even if this is a very tricky away clash.

The last of those losses came down the N2 in Cape Town on Tuesday night.

Stellenbosch did a league ‘Double’ over Chiefs last season, winning both games 1-0. Chiefs lead the head-to-head 3-2 though, with a further three draws.

MAMELODI SUNDOWNS VS SUPERSPORT UNITED

Mamelodi Sundowns were pretty hopeless in the MTN8 before lifting the trophy last season, but even then they needed five penalty saves from goalkeeper Denis Onyango in the final shoot-out against Cape Town City to end up victorious.

SuperSport were winners in 2017 and 2019 as they reached three finals in a row, but those heady days are seem a thing of the past as they are now a side relying on youth as they battle to make ends meet.

The teams last met in the competition in the 2019 semifinals when Matsatsantsa won 3-1 on aggregate.

SuperSport lead the head-to-head against Sundowns in the MTN8 competition 4-3 with a single draw. Overall, things are stacked more heavily in Sundowns’ favour, they have 42 wins to SuperSport’s 20, with a further 16 draws in the 78 meetings in all competitions.

The last six encounters have been four wins for Sundowns and two draws, with SuperSport’s last victory in the second leg of their 2019 MTN8 semifinal tie.