Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs are set to battle it out for top spot in the Absa Premiership when they clash at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday.
Mamelodi Sundowns
Sundowns have only lost one out of 13 games so far this campaign, winning nine games across all competitions, while drawing three.
The Brazilians will go into this encounter on a seven-game unbeaten run in the league following their 1-0 victory over Highlands Park on Wednesday evening.
Sundowns have been in fine form in front of goal and have scored five goals or more on three occasions against Côte d’Or and AmaZulu, for a total of 35 in all competitions while conceding just seven.
Pitso Mosimane’s charges currently occupy second place in the league standings on 17 points after seven matches played so far this season.
‘We don’t have to beat Kaizer Chiefs, why do we have to beat Kaizer Chiefs? We don’t have to beat them to win the league, we’ve got so many points to play for,’ Mosimane said.
‘Even if we lose to Chiefs, lose against Orlando Pirates and win the rest we’ll still win the league. So, we’re not going to be emotional about this situation.
‘We don’t want to lose to them, our supporters don’t want to lose to them and we play home. We want to win but I don’t want to be emotional about it. I think we need to be smart because we know how to win the championship,’ Mosimane maintained this week.
Kaizer Chiefs
Amakhosi have begun their campaign with an impressive start and have managed to claim seven wins out of nine games, while playing out to one draw and one defeat so far this campaign.
Amakhosi are on a three-game winning run in the PSL following their recent 2-0 victory over Golden Arrows at the FNB Stadium, with their only defeat coming against Polokwane City on 14 September.
Chiefs have scored a total of 13 goals through seven different players, including Daniel Cardoso, Eric Mathoho, Lebogang Manyama Samir Nurkovic, Kearyn Baccus and Khama Billiat, while conceding six goals in the process.
Ernst Middendorp’s side are topping the summit of the Absa Premiership standings with 19 points from eight games, two points ahead of Sundowns.
‘In particular, from my side, you never see me running with the [Shell Helix] cup through the stadium, celebrating or whatever; you’ve never seen me disappointed or showing whatever [emotion] when we’re not getting the result, I take things quite balanced,’ Middendorp has said.
‘At the moment it’s about the progress and about the performance, and, I will repeat it, we still have minutes and periods in a game where we have to do better. We have to be more professional, showing really a performance where you can say you dominate over the entire game.
‘There’s still a lot of work to do. I think it’s not depending on the Telkom Cup or on the PSL [Absa Premiership] or Macufe Cup or Shell Helix Cup; it’s just games we have to play and in each of these, with a team like Kaizer Chiefs – even playing against Moroka Swallows on the training ground here – you have to win and be successful.
‘If not, you are definitely in a messy situation – that’s the mentality and attitude we try to pump into the mindset of each and everybody part of this team and brand, in particular since we started the pre-season on June 25,’ the coach concluded.
