Chiefs take centre stage in Betway Premiership

by Graeme Jackson

Friday Dec 06, 2024. 11:00

All eyes will be on Kaizer Chiefs when they look for a return to form in the Betway Premiership, as South Africa’s stages a truncated round of five matches this weekend.

With the top three in the league standings – Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC – in action in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, Chiefs will take centre stage as they look to shake off a run of form which has seen them claim just one win from their last five matches across all competitions.

The Amakhosi are placed a disappointing seventh on the log and let two points slip away last weekend when they gave up a two-goal lead to be held 2-2 at home by Royal AM.

As they gear up to face Polokwane City (winless in their last three matches, drawing 1-1 with TS Galaxy in their last outing) at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday afternoon, coach Nasreddine Nabi has demanded a reaction from his players.

“If the players don’t understand what the problem is after [the 2-2 draw with Royal]… they’ve got to understand and if they don’t give a reaction, I think you understand me, I don’t want to continue,” stated the Tunisian.

“You need to change yourself and the mentality. In football, you don’t play for yourself. We play together for 90 minutes, as a collective, be focused and responsible because you play for a big club. I don’t want to attack any player. Together we need to take more responsibility to defend the entity of Kaizer Chiefs.”

The round gets underway at King Zwelithini Stadium on Friday evening when bottom-of-the-log Richards Bay host SuperSport United in a battle of two teams also desperate to get back to form, while Saturday features AmaZulu FC chasing a third straight win when they face TS Galaxy at the Mbombela Stadium.

Usuthu had a nightmare start to the season, but under the guidance of co-coaches Arthur Zwane and Vusumuzi Vilakazi, they appear revitalised.

“Moving forward I think we have the right confidence in the team as well as the chemistry from the players,” said Vilakazi. “This is not the better of AmaZulu that you saw now, we’re still a work in progress and we will do better going forward.”

Saturday will also see Marumo Gallants and Magesi FC scrapping over three points at the Dr Molemela Stadium in the late afternoon, while the night game at the Peter Mokaba Stadium is Sekhukhune United hosting Cape Town City.

Betway Premiership weekend fixtures

Times CAT

Friday 6 December

19:30: Richards Bay v SuperSport United

Saturday 7 December

15:30: TS Galaxy v AmaZulu FC

17:45: Marumo Gallants v Magesi FC

20:00: Sekhukhune United v Cape Town City

Sunday 8 December

15:30: Polokwane City v Kaizer Chiefs