Under-strength Brazilians keen to avoid La Masia banana skin

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has backed Peter Shalulile to rediscover his form as they kick off their Nedbank Cup title challenge against NB La Masia at the Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday, February 20. Kick-off is at 7pm CAT (SA, GMT+2), live on SuperSport.

Current form:

The Brazilians are flying high in the DStv Premiership, although they were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Orlando Pirates on Saturday, February 17, which has their third stalemate in four top-flight outings.

Mokwena's side still boast a nine-point lead over the chasing pack with two games in hand and their record in the Nedbank Cup is good as they've not lost to lower-league opposition in 17 matches since 2008.

Sundowns have won the title four times in the last 16 years and they were knocked out by Stellenbosch in the quarterfinals last season as defending champions.

NB La Masia are making their debut in Ke Yona and their opening game in the preliminary round was a thriller as they defeated Baroka 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw.

Daine Klate's side are winless in their last four Motsepe Foundation Championship encounters, having played out to a 0-0 draw with JDR Stars on Friday, February 16 to sit 10th in the standings, four points above the relegation zone.

What was said:

Shalulile has struggled for goals this season, finding the back of the net just nine times in 20 appearances across all competitions for Sundowns, while he failed to score in Namibia's run to the round of 16 at the recently-concluded 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

However, Mokwena has faith in his talisman to find his scoring boots again as the striker looks to add to his 14 goals in the Nedbank Cup, which is a record in the competition.

"His performances at Afcon and not scoring there, he is carrying it a little bit. But okay, he will overcome that because all very good strikers have very good moments and they have moments where they are not so good," Mokwena said.

"But what I like about Peter is that his overall game contribution is very good. He still presses, he still makes the movement, and he still assists us with a lot of other things from an offensive and defensive perspective. That's all you ask the players to do.

Players to watch:

NB La Masia - The Johannesburg outfit have found goals hard to come by this term and they are the joint-second lowest scorers in the league with 15. Fuad Johnson is their top scorer with just two goals, although he did manage to get on the scoresheet in the previous round against Bakgaga. The former Stellenbosch striker is in his second season at the club and bagged six league goals in his debut campaign with La Masia.

Mamelodi Sundowns - No player has scored more goals in the Nedbank Cup than Peter Shalulile, who took just four seasons to rise to the top of the scoring charts. The Namibian ace plundered a hat-trick against Marumo Gallants last term to finish on five goals, pulling three ahead of Hlompho Kekana, who scored 11 for Sundowns.

Head-to-Head: (Previous Meetings)

Matches - 0

NB La Masia wins - 0

Sundowns wins - 0

Draws - 0