All eyes on Chiefs in midweek DStv Premiership action

by Graeme Jackson

Tuesday Oct 27, 2020. 12:00

All eyes will be on heavyweights Kaizer Chiefs for a midweek round of South Africa’s DStv Premiership on 27-28 October, with the Soweto side looking to bounce back from a thrashing on the opening weekend.

The Amakhosi were humbled 3-0 at home by champions Mamelodi Sundowns, with manager Gavin Hunt’s first league game in charge marked by an alarming lack of defensive organisation and attacking coherence.

They will be expected to show a marked improvement when they come up against Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Tuesday evening.

“We know where the problems are, we know the problems from day one. But it is what it is… but we ended up with six academy boys on the field so you got to start building, you got to start somewhere,” said Hunt, whose task is made all the more difficult by Chiefs having a transfer ban.

“You’re playing against a team that’s invested very heavily in their squad as you can see their bench, so we were up against it. So we have to dust ourselves off and go again.”

The other match on Tuesday is a Limpopo derby between Black Leopards and Baroka, while Wednesday’s busy schedule features six simultaneous kick-offs and is headlined by home games for Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.

The latter will be confident of putting another three points on the board when rookies Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila visit Loftus Versfeld, while Orlando Pirates will chase a first win of the league season when Stellenbosch come to Soweto – with manager Josef Zinnbauer demanding an improved performance compared to their opening 1-1 draw at AmaZulu.

“The problem was not the opponent, the problem was ourself. We had not a normal build-up, not enough self-confidence, yes you can lose the ball, but we have too many turnovers and it was too easy,” said the German.

Elsewhere, Swallows will host Bloemfontein Celtic at Dobsonville Stadium; Maritzburg United will look to bounce back when they host Cape Town City; AmaZulu will chase a positive result in Mpumalanga against TS Galaxy; and Golden Arrows will look to break a winless streak in the league which stretches back to February when they host SuperSport United.

DStv Premiership fixtures, 27-28 October

Tuesday 27 October

19:30: Chippa United v Kaizer Chiefs

19:30: Black Leopards v Baroka

Wednesday 28 October

19:30: Swallows v Bloemfontein Celtic

19:30: Orlando Pirates v Stellenbosch

19:30: Maritzburg United v Cape Town City

19:30: Mamelodi Sundowns v Tshakhuma TM

19:30: TS Galaxy v AmaZulu

19:30: Golden Arrows v SuperSport United