Sitting comfortably at the top of the Betway Premiership pile, Mamelodi Sundowns are in line to bag their sixth straight win in the league when they take on a winless Chippa United outfit at the Buffalo City Municipality Stadium on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 17:30pm (CAT, GMT+2).
CURRENT FORM
The Brazilians will enter this weekend’s matches sitting in first position, six points ahead of reigning champions Orlando Pirates who have been on CAF Champions League duty.
Sundowns are yet to taste defeat this season and have recorded five consecutive wins following favourable results against Marumo Gallants, AmaZulu, Milford and Golden Arrows, with their most recent result being a commanding 3-0 victory over Siwelele on Wednesday.
While Sundowns gathered 19 points for the campaign, the Chilli Boys currently occupy 12th spot on the table with four points from five games.
Still without a win this season, Chippa recorded back-to-back draws with Siwelele and Milford FC in their last set of games, a result that followed a morale-deflating 3-0 defeat against Pirates last month.
Overall, Chippa accumulated their points from four draws this season as they commence their campaign on a stuttering note.
WHAT WAS SAID
Speaking after Sundowns' win over Siwelele, Miguel Cardoso lauded his side’s efforts and noted that he found joy in watching the Brazilians ‘express’ themselves on the pitch.
"It was beautiful to see how the teams expressed themselves and how they felt the amusement, the joy to play on a pitch like that. I would also like to give a word to Coach Godfrey. He just picked the team,” Cardoso said.
“It's not easy to play a match like this, to pick and prepare a team for a match like this. I told him I had the opportunity to be with him and tell him bravo because the boys put in a good fight on the pitch also. Despite all those conditions it was clear that by the stats, if you look at the match that my boys did, so also time and opportunity.
“I take it in hand to congratulate them. It's not easy to play so many matches in a row and still keep capacity to fight until the last minute."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chippa United: Abbubaker Mobara – Given Sundowns’ free-scoring attack line, Mobara could be in for a busy 90 minutes at the back. At the same time, Mobara comes in as one of the more experienced players at the club, while Chippa will rely on his leadership skills throughout the match.
Mamelodi Sundowns: Brayan Leon – After blanking in his last two league encounters, Leon will be eager to get his name on the scoresheet once more. Overall, the Colombian scored three goals in six league fixtures so far with the game against Chippa providing a platform to find his scoring touch again.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Games: 26
Chippa United wins: 0
Mamelodi Sundowns wins: 18
Draws: 8