Nabi urges Chiefs to take their chances against Sundowns

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi has stressed the need to convert possession into goals as he prepares for the visit of Mamelodi Sundowns to the FNB Stadium in the Carling Knockout quarterfinals on Saturday.

Kick-off is at 6pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

CURRENT FORM

Amakhosi bossed proceedings in their two most recent Betway Premiership matches, but suffered a 1-0 defeat against SuperSport United last weekend before being held to a 2-2 draw by Magesi on Wednesday.

Nabi's side laid siege to Dikwena tsa Meetse's goal after falling behind on six minutes and they eventually responded with a quickfire brace from Mduduzi Shabalala once the hosts had doubled their advantage on 72 minutes.

The Glamour Boys had shown what they are capable of when they routed Matsatsantsa 4-0 in the opening round of the cup competition on 19 October and Nabi wants to see more of that against Sundowns.

Bafana ba Style returned to winning ways in the league as they convincingly beat Cape Town City 3-0 on Wednesday after Polokwane City handed them a first defeat of the season three days earlier.

The Brazilians have a dominant force in the top flight, but they haven't had as much success in the cups and bowed out of the Carling Knockout at the first hurdle in 2023 after losing to TS Galaxy on penalties.

Lucas Ribeiro has been a great find for Masandawana, scoring 12 goals in their title-winning 2023-24 campaign and bagging another four in five league appearances this term, but his discipline is a concern.

The Brazilian picked up his fifth booking of the season against the Citizens, having only just returned from a one-match suspension and Downs coach Manqoba Mngqithi admits some of the challenges he makes are unnecessary.

WHAT WAS SAID:

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi

"Our issues are obvious. Every game we have the most possession and we just need to convert that into scoring goals.

"We believe in future with that possession if our players can score we will improve. But we are so disappointed because today (Wednesday) we lost three points."

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi

"It's a big concern for all of us that he [Ribeiro] somehow finds a way to get a booking even when it was difficult for him to get a booking because the tackle that he made just on the line was very unnecessary.

"Sometimes you must know when you working with South Americans that they think differently, they give everything to the game which sometimes exposes them to such cautions.

"We are concerned. Personally, I had three or four one-on-ones with him, and I really want him to understand. I think he has improved in some instances because he was very emotional before, but I think he's improving now."

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Kaizer Chiefs - Mduduzi Shabalala was one of the standout players against Magesi and didn't shy away from shooting when the opportunity presented itself, testing Elvis Chipezeze with two strikes from range in the first half.

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder produced two clinical finishes in the space of a minutes to rescue a point for Amakhosi and take his tally for the campaign to three goals.

Mamelodi Sundowns - Lucas Ribeiro played a starring role against City, playing in Peter Shalulile with an incisive pass to open the scoring on 16 minutes before doubling Downs' advantage with a sumptuous first-time strike in the 37th minutes, only further highlighting his importance to Mngqithi, which is why the coach acknowledges his discipline is a problem.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: (Last Five Meetings)

Matches - 5

Chiefs wins - 0

Sundowns wins - 4

Draws - 1