Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi says that he sees Cape Town City, Stellenbosch and Royal AM as their rivals for the league title, not Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

The Brazilians cruised to a fifth consecutive league title last year with league now yearning for a challenger who can run the Masadawana machine close next season.

While there have been big changes at both Soweto giants, Mngqithi believes that there have been other sides showing greater improvements over the last season.

“I think other teams still have to fight to move from position six maybe to position three and others still have to fight from position five maybe to position three,” Mngqithi said during the 2022-23 Premiership launch in Randburg on Thursday.

“The teams that are direct competition at this stage, for me, are Cape Town City, Stellenbosch and Royal AM. Those are direct competition and they are progressing very well as the seasons go by,” Mngqithi said.

“For me, I expect them to cause a lot of problems.

“I fully understand that Pirates have signed quite a lot of good players and Chiefs have signed a lot of good players, but I also understand that it takes a bit longer to get the team to gel when they’ve got a lot of new faces.”