Tshwane derby headlines weekend DStv Prem action

by Graeme Jackson

Friday Jan 15, 2021. 11:00

The Tshwane derby between SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns will be the headline fixture of a full round of matches in South Africa’s DStv Premiership this coming weekend.

Sundowns, the reigning champions, have made an unbeaten start to the defence of their title and enjoy a two-point lead at the top of the log. However, they will need to be at their best to beat an in-form SuperSport United when the teams meet at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Matsatsantsa defeated Bloemfontein Celtic 2-1 on Wednesday – featuring an all-time club-record 58th goal for Bradley Grobler – to record a fifth win from their last six league matches and move to within touching distance of ‘Downs.

Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has revealed that his side is exactly on course as far as their points tally is concerned, and is confident that even the club’s fringe players can put in performances capable of achieving good results.

“In our planning for the season, we put out that we’d want to achieve 12 points in every five matches. The first cycle [of five games], we got 13 points and the second cycle we got 11 points and dropped one point. This gives us exactly what we wanted to achieve,” Mngqithi said, as quoted by Sowetan Live.

He added, “There were times where we were forced to use players that are not playing regularly and they came in handy. We really appreciate what we’ve achieved but this is just a beginning.”

Saturday also sees Golden Arrows and Swallows FC – the two other unbeaten teams thus far – facing up to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila and Baroka FC respectively, while heavyweights Kaizer Chiefs will be away to Cape Town City.

Chiefs scraped a much-needed victory by edging AmaZulu 1-0 away in midweek, but that will mean little if they cannot back it up with a good showing against the Citizens, who themselves will be eager to return to winning ways.

Sunday’s two games are a KwaZulu-Natal derby between AmaZulu and Maritzburg United, as well as Orlando Pirates looking for a second successive win at Thohoyandou Stadium when they face Black Leopards. The Buccaneers defeated Tshakhuma 3-0 at the venue on Wednesday to keep up their excellent record in games against Limpopo opponents.

DStv Premiership weekend fixtures

Saturday 16 January

15:00: SuperSport United v Mamelodi Sundowns

15:00: Golden Arrows v Tshakhuma TM

15:30: Bloemfontein Celtic v Stellenbosch

15:30: TS Galaxy v Chippa United

17:00: Baroka FC v Swallows FC

17:00: Cape Town City v Kaizer Chiefs

Sunday 17 January

15:30: AmaZulu v Maritzburg United

15:30: Black Leopards v Orlando Pirates