Confident Polokwane out to put Chiefs to the sword

Polokwane City will be looking to bounce back to winning ways when they host Kaizer Chiefs in Sunday's Betway Premiership match at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium.

Kick-off is at 3:30 pm CAT.

CURRENT FORM

Rise and Shine stretched their winless run to three matches in the league when they drew 1-1 with TS Galaxy at home last weekend and the draw ended their two-match losing run.

Polokwane are placed fifth in the Betway Premiership standings with 14 points from nine matches and a win over Chiefs would elevate the Limpopo side to the third spot if other results go their way.

Chiefs, on the other hand, are unbeaten in their last two matches in the league when they drew 2-2 with Royal AM at home last weekend, and before the match, they had defeated Richards Bay.

Amakhosi are placed seventh in the Betway Premiership standings with 11 points from seven matches and a win over Polokwane would see the Soweto giants climb up to the fourth spot if the other results go their way.

TEAM NEWS

Polokwane will boosted by the availability of their inspirational captain Bulelani Nikani who missed the match against TS Galaxy due to a one-match suspension.

Chiefs, on the other hand, will also welcome back their key defender Inacio Miguel who has completed his two-match suspension.

However, the Soweto giants will be without the suspended Reeve Frosler, while Dillan Solomons picked up an injury in the match against Royal AM.

WHAT WAS SAID?

Polokwane City head coach Phuti Mohafe

“Chiefs are a serious threat even when you check them, they are not doing well, they get a win here after some time, they getting a win after some long time,” Mohafe said.

“They are a serious threat, they playing with a transition lot of long balls. I think it’s a match that we need the most because we know how to play with teams that are playing that way, I think we will do better against them.”

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi

"Sometimes you don't score because of ego...if you don't respect football, football doesn't respect you as well. We are very, very frustrated about the two points we have lost [against Royal AM] because we controlled the game from the first to the last minute," Nabi said.

"If you miss too many chances, you give confidence to the opponent. The other frustrating thing is that we failed to defend with three, or four minutes remaining...you need to defend your lead. It's very hard to understand what happened [against Royal AM]."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bulelani Nikani, Polokwane City: The experienced defender is one of Rise and Shine's most influential players having scored the winning goal against Mamelodi Sundowns and also netted in a win over AmaZulu FC this season.

Ashley Du Preez, Kaizer Chiefs: The speedy attacker hit form after re-cementing his place in Amakhosi's starting line-up - finding the back of the net in back-to-back matches against Richards Bay and Royal AM.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

LAST 10 LEAGUE RESULTS

Season Result Scorers

2016/17 Chiefs 3-2 Polokwane Parker, Molangoane, Katsande; Ramagalela, Tlolane

2016/17 Polokwane 1-0 Chiefs Tshilo

2017/18 Polokwane 0-0 Chiefs

2017/18 Chiefs 2-1 Polokwane Moon, Zuma; Musona

2018/19 Chiefs 0-1 Polokwane Mngomezulu

2018/19 Polokwane 1-1 Chiefs Musona; Cardoso (pen)

2019/20 Chiefs 0-1 Polokwane Maluleke (pen)

2019/20 Polokwane 2-3 Chiefs Nku, Maluleke; Katsande, Akumu, Nurkovic

2023/24 Polokwane 0-1 Chiefs Mmodi

2023/24 Chiefs 0-0 Polokwane

LEAGUE RECORD (since 2013/14)

Home

P W D L GF GA

Polokwane 8 1 4 3 5 8

Chiefs 8 4 2 2 14 8

Away

P W D L GF GA

Polokwane 8 2 2 4 8 14

Chiefs 8 3 4 1 8 5

Total

P W D L GF GA

Polokwane 16 3 6 7 13 22

Chiefs 16 7 6 3 22 13