Riveiro eyes DStv Prem runners-up spot

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has called for his side to focus on their own tasks at hand when they travel to the DHL Stadium this week where they will meet a stuttering Cape Town City in a keenly anticipated DStv Premiership clash on Wednesday night.

Kick-off is at 3:00pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

CURRENT FORM

City are currently on a nine-match winless streak in the league, form that has seen the Mother City outfit slump to 6th position on the league table. The Citizens recorded four draws and one loss in their last five matches and go into their next game on the back of a 1-1 stalemate with Golden Arrows last week.

Pirates on the other hand, bagged three wins in their last three DStv Premiership ties which included a mammoth 7-1 win against Abafana Bes’thende on the 6th of April. Sitting in third position, Pirates are three points behind second-placed Stellenbosch FC as Riveiro’s charges remain on course to finish in a CAF position this season.

Pirates recorded a 2-0 win when the two sides last met in the league, as goals by Zakhele Lepasa and Patrick Maswanganyi was enough for the Sea Robbers to bag maximum points at the Orlando Stadium in August last year.

What was said…

“It's been the focus since the beginning of the season and an issue that we have tried to resolve. In a training week of five days, three are spent on final third entries. So, I don't think it's a lack of work. Maybe it's just a lack of quality,” City coach Eric Tinkler said.

“As much as we're still fighting to ensure that we finish in the top eight at the end of the season, at the same time we are assessing ourselves. If there's one area of our game that is letting us down, is that final third.

“And now we have to find ways to improve on that area. Because I don't think the system is the problem. I don't think the defence is the problem.”

"Our focus is on ourselves. We must win every remaining game until the end," Pirates coach Jose Riveiro said.

"We can't control what our opponents do. They (Stellenbosch) have their matches to play. We try to concentrate on what we can control. Our performance and our next opponents, now we travel to Cape Town to face City on Wednesday and it is going to be key in collecting three points again because the top of the table is very tight."

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Cape Town City: Khanyisa Mayo - With Tinkler bemoaning his side’s inability to convert scoring chances, much pressure will be placed on Mayo to produce the goods on Wednesday. As the third highest scorer in the league, Mayo will no doubt look to the Bucs game to climb up the league’s scoring chart.

Orlando Pirates: Tshegofatso Mabasa – The 27-year-old has been a star performer for Pirates since the turn of the year and is tied as the second-highest scorer in the league with 11 efforts to his name so far. City will have to keep tabs on the marauding forward this week, given his ability to pick up favourable positions inside the 18-yard-area.

HEAD-TO-HEAD:

Last five league games:

2021/22 Cape Town City 1-1 Orlando Pirates

2021/22Orlando Pirates 0-0 Cape Town City

2022/23 Cape Town City 2-1 Orlando Pirates

2022/23 Orlando Pirates 2-1 Cape Town City

2023/24 Orlando Pirates 2-0 Cape Town City