City looking to bounce back

by Graeme Jackson

Friday Feb 23, 2018. 09:04

Cape Town City will look to bounce back from successive defeats in the Absa Premiership when they host Bidvest Wits at Athlone Stadium on 24 February 2018, kick-off at 18h00.

City suffered a second successive league defeat when they lost 1-0 away to Kaizer Chiefs on February 17. The Cape Town side has won just one of their last five league matches, picking up just four points from a possible 15 in the sequence.

The Citizens have claimed 16 points from 10 home matches this season, though their last game as hosts ended in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mamelodi Sundowns earlier this month.

Wits extended their unbeaten run in the league to six matches with a 2-1 away win over Golden Arrows on February 17. The Johannesburg side has claimed 14 points from the last 18 up for grabs.

The Clever Boys have claimed just 14 points from 10 away matches this season, though their last two games on the road have brought them an emphatic 4-1 victory at SuperSport United and the above-mentioned win at Arrows.

In head-to-head stats, City and Wits have met in three league matches since the start of last season. The Cape side took four points off their Johannesburg counterparts last season, and added a further three to that tally early in this campaign when they won 1-0 at Bidvest Stadium in August 2017. Striker Lehlohonolo Majoro scored the only goal of that match, and he has since left City to join the Clever Boys.

City’s line-up from their 1-0 loss to Chiefs on February 17: Stephens, Mkhize, Fielies, Mngonyama, Edmilson, Modise (Roberts 59’), Nodada, Putsche (Akosah-Bempah 80’), Lakay, Martin (Masina 46’), Rusike.

Wits’ line-up from their 2-1 win over Arrows on February 17: Keet, Allie, Hlatswayo, Monare (Ntshangase 44'), Hlanti, Claasen, Mkhwanazi, Mhango, Myeni (Ritchie 65'), Gyimah, Majoro (Keene 77').