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Galaxy confident ahead of stern Stellies test

20 April 2024 10:46| © SuperSport
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Thabang Rakwena © Getty Images

 

TS Galaxy star Thabang Rakwena believes his side are ‘confident’ of picking up maximum points against Stellenbosch FC this weekend when the Rockets host the Cape Winelands side at the Mbombela Stadium in the DStv Premiership on Sunday.

Kick-off is at 5:30pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

Current form

Galaxy have been in resurgent form as of late and go into their next game on the back of three consecutive wins against AmaZulu, Royal AM and SuperSport United respectively.

As the hosts for Sunday’s encounter, the Rockets have won each of their last five games on home soil. TS Galaxy currently sit in 6th place on 34 points, just three points behind 3rd placed Orlando Pirates

Stellies recorded a 1-1 stalemate with Sekhukhune in their most recent league assignment, which extended their unbeaten streak in the league to a mammoth 15-games.

In a bid to qualify for the CAF Champions League, the popular Cape Winelands occupy 2nd place on the table, 13 points behind Mamelodi Sundowns.

Also, Stellenbosch recorded a 3-0 win against Galaxy last time out in the league, while Stellies also recorded a 5-4 penalty win over the Rockets in the Carling Black Label Cup final earlier this season.

What was said…

“Losing to Chippa [in the Nedbank Cup], it was a learning curve for us because we’ve been doing great after all,” TS Galaxy star Thabang Rakwena said.

“We just need to focus on the league, what happened in the past, we cant redo it. We need to focus on the upcoming game against Stellies.

“We did great against Stellies [in the Carling Cup final], its just unfortunate that we lost on penalties but I’m positive that we’re going to pick up three points.

“These two games away were always going to be a big challenge for us, so if we can come away from them with some points – hopefully with three points against Galaxy – would put us in a strong position,” Steve Barker mentioned.

“We need to regenerate and rejuvenate physically and mentally over the next couple of days before we travel for that (Galaxy) game.”

Players to watch:

TS Galaxy: Samir Nurkovic – Nurkovic has been one of the Rockets best players this season and is currently the 4thhighest scorer in the league with seven efforts to his name so far. Whether it be from the bench or as starter, Nurkovic’s presence and physicality can hurt the Stellies backline at any stage of the game.

Stellenbosch FC: Anicet Oura – The Ivorian was everywhere during his side’s 1-1 draw with Sekhukhune earlier this week and has been in a rich vein of goal scoring form in the last couple of weeks. As a crucial component to Barker’s front line, TS Galaxy will have to be on high alert for the attacker’s elusiveness on the edge of the area.

Head-to-head:

Last five league results:

2021/22 Stellenbosch FC 1-0 TS Galaxy

2021/22 TS Galaxy 0-1 Stellenbosch FC

2022/23 TS Galaxy 0-0 Stellenbosch FC

2022/23 Stellenbosch FC 2-1 TS Galaxy

2023/24 Stellenbosch FC 3-0 TS Galaxy

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