Sundowns and Pirates have it all to play for in MTN8

Mamelodi Sundowns welcome Orlando Pirates to the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday with their MTN8 semifinal tie delicately poised.

Kick-off is at 3.30pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

The two teams played out to a goalless draw in the first leg at the Orlando Stadium three weeks ago, although the Buccaneers were unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet after they created numerous chances.

Sundowns uncharacteristically failed to register a single shot on target and they were indebted to goalkeeper Ronwen Williams for pulling off crucial saves to deny Nkosinathi Sibisi and Kermit Erasmus.

The Brazilians come into the second leg in much better form, having beaten La Passe 15-1 on aggregate in the CAF Champions League before returning to the top of the DStv Premiership table with a 1-0 win over Marumo Gallants on Wednesday.

Downs co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi hinted that Peter Shalulile could make a "surprise" return against Pirates after he was rested for their last three matches.

"The biggest thing I'm happy about is that we tried to see how the team can perform without Peter in the past three matches," Mngqithi said.

"And in those matches we scored 16 goals. For us that is very important. As to whether he [Shalulile] will be part of this one I cannot be sure.

"We rested him over the past two or three matches because we also want to have him as fresh as possible. Probably he might come in as a big surprise for this match.

"It's very difficult to say whether he's in or out because the specialists have to give a call in that space. His condition is still OK physicality, so we have to wait and see what comes out from the specialists."

The Sea Robbers halted a three-match winless run in the league as they defeated Golden Arrows 2-0 on Tuesday to move up to fourth in the standings, three points behind Masandawana, who have two games in hand.

Jose Riveiro's side also stopped the rot against Masandawana last time out, having lost their five previous league and cup meetings.

Riveiro insists their past record means little to him and revealed they will adopt the same approach as in the first leg.

"The most important thing for us is how we're going to play in the next game, the past doesn't have any bearing in this game," the Spaniard said.

"There are a lot of interesting things to discuss about the game but the past isn't one of them.

"We approach this game like we did the first, we don't think about the names but we focus on what we want to produce in every game and the structure we're going to use to achieve our objectives."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Andile Jali: The 32-year-old midfielder was also rested for Sundowns' last three games and is likely to slot back into the starting line-up for the visit of his former employers. Jali featured in the first leg as well as the quarterfinal clash against SuperSport United and the coaches could turn to him once more to clamp down the midfield.

Marcelo Allende: The 23-year-old Chilean attacking midfielder started the last three games and will be disappointed not to have gotten his name on the scoresheet in either leg against La Passe after seeing his teammates hit the back of the net 15 times. Allende opened his account in the MTN 8 against SuperSport to go with the two goals he has scored in the league.

Orlando Pirates

Kermit Erasmus:The 32-year-old striker was handed his second start of the season against Arrows and is showing early signs of rediscovering his form in front of goal. Erasmus was denied a goal against Sundowns in the first leg and will be looking to come back to haunt his former club this weekend.

Monnapule Saleng:The 24-year-old winger caught the eye on Tuesday with a brace against Abafana Bes'thende to get off the mark for Pirates and is hoping to retain his place in the starting line-up for the cup-tie after also featuring in the first leg. Saleng is looking to establish himself in the first team this season after spending last term on loan at Swallows.