Wednesday Oct 18, 2023. 11:00
TS Galaxy and Mamelodi Sundowns will open the brand new Carling Knockout cup competition when they meet at Mbombela Stadium on Wednesday evening in the first round of 16 fixture.
Replacing the Telkom Knockout (which was last played in the 2019-20 season), the Carling KO is South Africa’s ‘League Cup’ and involves all 16 top-flight clubs playing in a straight knockout format through a round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and a final – with the latter set to be staged on the weekend of 16-17 December.
Sundowns, who were the winners of the last Telkom Knockout in 2019, will be strongly favoured to overcome TS Galaxy and continue their strong start to the season – with the chance to claim redemption for their MTN8 final defeat at the hands of Orlando Pirates earlier this month surely a major driving factor.
“We are Sundowns. We will bounce back. We will bounce back. It’s a difficult one to swallow. But we will bounce back,” said coach Rhulani Mokwena.
The action continues on the weekend, starting off on Friday night when MTN8 champions Pirates begin the quest for another cup title by hosting strugglers Cape Town Spurs in Soweto, while the pick of a busy Saturday programme is the clash between Kaizer Chiefs and AmaZulu at the iconic FNB Stadium.
The cup history between the Amakhosi and Usuthu is a rich one, including the Durban side’s surprise away-goals triumph in the semifinals of last season’s MTN8, though the Soweto giants emerged triumphant when the teams most recently clashed in a league game in late August.
“AmaZulu are a good side, we have seen them when we played them at FNB Stadium,” said Chiefs coach Molefi Ntseki. “They have made some interesting signings.
“If you look and reflect on the game they played against us, they have played a lot after that. When they played us, they had not lost or conceded any goal. But on the day we did well, we managed to score goals and win the game.”
Sunday sees Richards Bay host Moroka Swallows at the King Zwelithini Stadium, and the round of 16 will be wrapped up later that evening when SuperSport United and Polokwane City meet at TUT Stadium in Tshwane.
Carling Knockout round of 16 fixtures
Times CAT
Wednesday 18 October
19:30: TS Galaxy v Mamelodi Sundowns
Friday 20 October
19:30: Orlando Pirates v Cape Town Spurs
Saturday 21 October
15:00: Golden Arrows v Cape Town City
15:00: Chippa United v Stellenbosch FC
18:00: Kaizer Chiefs v AmaZulu
20:15: Sekhukhune United v Royal AM
Sunday 22 October
15:00: Richards Bay v Moroka Swallows
18:00: SuperSport United v Polokwane City
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