CT City eye hat-trick of home wins against Richards 

Cape Town City will be targeting a third successive home victory in the Betway Premiership when they host Richards Bay at the Athlone Stadium on Friday.

Kick-off is at 7:30 pm CAT.

CURRENT FORM

The Citizens were humbled by Marumo Gallants away on 11 January as they lost 1-0 and the defeat ended the Western Cape side's two-match unbeaten run in the league.

City are placed seventh in the Betway Premiership standings - a point behind fifth-placed Golden Arrows and a win over Richards Bay will see the Citizens consolidating their spot in the top eight.

Richards Bay, on the other hand, managed to hold Gallants to a 0-0 draw away on 4 January, but the KwaZulu-Natal side are winless in their last two matches in the local top-flight.

The Natal Rich Boys are placed 14th in the Betway Premiership standings - a point above the relegation zone and a victory over City would see Richards Bay move further away from the bottom two spots. 

TEAM NEWS

Cape Town City will be without the suspended Thamsanqa Mkhize and his teammates Carlinhos, and Fortune Makaringe are still out injured.

Meanwhile, Richards Bay have no suspension concerns, and the club are yet to report injuries in their camp coming into this encounter.

WHAT WAS SAID?

Cape Town City coach Muhsin Ertugral

"We played [Kaizer] Chiefs, we played [Orlando] Pirates and three days later you need to come up to Bloemfontein [to face Marumo Gallants]. This is unusual, these boys are tired. They played their hearts out," Ertugral said.

"They did everything right, we played fair and square, played great games, and even in the second half they pulled their socks up, went in and created again those elements necessary to at least get a draw."

Richards Bay coach Ronnie Gabriel 

"We are not naive to think that we are out of the woods [in the relegation battle], we know there is a lot of work still to be done," Gabriel said.

"We understand that we have to be the most consistent team and we have to pick up more results on a weekly basis."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Darwin Gonzalez, Cape Town City:  The Venezuelan attacker scored two winning goals in the Citizens' last three matches and he could be the player to propel the Western Cape side to a win over Richards Bay.

Yanela Mbuthuma, Richards Bay: The hard-working forward is a player capable of inspiring the Natal Rich Boys to a win over the Citizens having netted two goals and grabbed an assist in the last six league matches.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

ALL LEAGUE RESULTS

Season Result Scorers

2022/23 Bay 1-0 City Lakay (og)

2022/23 City 2-0 Bay Mayo 2

2023/24 Bay 1-3 City Barns; Rhodes 2, Mayo

2023/24 City 3-1 Bay Gordinho, Rhodes, Kutumela; Figuareido

LEAGUE RECORD (since 2022/23)

Home

P W D L GF GA

City 2 2 0 0 5 1

Bay 2 1 0 1 2 3

Away

P W D L GF GA

City 2 1 0 1 3 2

Bay 2 0 0 2 1 5

Total

P W D L GF GA

City 4 3 0 1 8 3

Bay 4 1 0 3 3 8