A clash between SuperSport United and Royal AM is the pick of a truncated weekend of Betway Premiership action, which will see just four matches played across the span of Saturday afternoon and evening.
With several clubs competing in CAF continental competitions, a quartet of fixtures is all South African top-flight fans will have to indulge in, but Matsatsantsa hosting Thwihli Thwahla at the TUT Stadium for a late afternoon kick-off has the potential to be an explosive encounter.
SuperSport will be looking to bounce back after they opened their league campaign with a 2-0 loss at the hands of Tshwane rivals Mamelodi Sundowns on Tuesday evening.
“When you give a team like Sundowns [chances] in the game they will hurt you and unfortunately that’s what happened,” said United assistant coach Andre Arendse, who was in charge of the team due to a suspension for head coach Gavin Hunt.
Royal, meanwhile, continue to be something of a laughing stock after they fielded their club chairman, Andile Mpisane, in their opening 1-1 draw with Cape Town City last weekend.
To be fair to Mpisane, he seems a passable player, but the obvious conflict of interest this situation brings about is something even coach John Maduka – in a most diplomatic manner – could barely defend.
“To come to [the] chairman, yeah, we gave him a chance. You know he played whatever. He did whatever he was supposed to do, then you had to make a change to put someone else,” explained the Royal AM coach.
“I mean, it’s part of football. It’s part of the game. Things like that, you know, will happen here and there. It’s just a normal situation whereby you know if he’s given a chance to play, he plays.
“There are times maybe he’ll be given maybe 15 minutes, the last 15 minutes or 20 minutes in situations like that, depending on what’s happening in the field of play.”
The day’s action opens with clashes at the Mpumalanga and Old Peter Mokaba Stadiums: in the former, Golden Arrows, fresh from an impressive win away to Stellenbosch FC on Wednesday, will host a Marumo Gallants looking to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs last weekend, while the latter sees Magesi FC and Polokwane City have a Limpopo derby.
Dikwena tsa Meetse marked their Premiership debut with a 1-0 loss against Sekhukhune United, and will immediately face another regional rival in the shape of Rise and Shine, who opened their campaign with a 2-1 triumph over AmaZulu last Saturday night.
Saturday’s quartet of matches is rounded out in the evening by Chippa United hosting Richards Bay at Buffalo City Stadium.
The Chilli Boys took the lead but conceded goals in injury time at the end of each half to lose 2-1 away to Orlando Pirates on Wednesday, while the Natal Rich Boyz got their campaign off to a flyer by beating TS Galaxy 1-0 at home on Sunday.
Betway Premiership weekend fixtures
Times CAT
Saturday 21 September
15:00: Golden Arrows v Marumo Gallants
15:00: Magesi FC v Polokwane City
17:30: SuperSport United v Royal AM
20:00: Chippa United v Richards Bay