City hope to end barren run against Gallants

With Cape Town City winless in their last eight Betway Premiership games, the Citizens will hope to get back to winning ways when they take on Marumo Gallants at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Kick-off is at 3:30pm (CAT, GMT+2)

CURRENT FORM

As mentioned, City have been battling to yield positive results in the league during the last couple of months and have not won a match in the Betway Premiership since the 17th of January where they secured a 2-1 victory over Richards Bay on home soil.

Since then, City recorded five defeats while they head into their next match on the back of consecutive draws with TS Galaxy and Marumo Gallants respectively.

As it stands, City occupy 10th on the log, while Gallants sit in a lowly 15th position after 21 matches played.

Gallants jotted down just one win in their last eight league fixtures, with their most recent being a 2-0 victory against Orlando Pirates on the 1st of March.

WHAT WAS SAID

Reflecting on his side’s recent 0-0 draw with Kaizer Chiefs, City temporary coach Muhsin Ertugral believes that the Cape side had enough chances to see out the game positively.

"I think we had great chances, especially in the first half," Ertugral said.

“We had Fortune one-on-one against the goalkeeper, Amadou one-on-one against the goalkeeper, they were very good chances. Low-block, sometimes yes.

“Nothing wrong with a low-block against a team that’s very good and sometimes have combinations, but there’s a period we had them completely and obviously in that period we had then our two great midfielders who got a little bit tired."

Hoping to avoid the drop, Marumo Gallants coach Abdeslam Ouaddou expressed that he will do all in his power to turn the club’s fortunes around this season.

“We will fight to save the club until the last minute of the last game. So, we have to believe that. But I feel that we can.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Cape Town City: Thulani Serero – Yet to fully kick on at City, Serero remains arguably the most experienced campaigner at the club. With City hoping to get back in the winning column, Serero’s know-how and experience can only aid the club during the second-half of the campaign.

Marumo Gallants: Junior Dion – Dion has been a bright spark for Gallants recently and managed to get his name on the scoresheet against Sekhukhune United earlier this week. The attacker will be keen to increase his tally this weekend, especially when facing a frail City backline.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Last five league games

2021/22 Gallants 0-0 City

2021/22 City 1-0 Gallants

2022/23 Gallants 2-1 City

2022/23 City 2-2 Gallants

2024/25 Gallants 1-0 City