Kaizer Chiefs will make the short trip to the Orlando Stadium to face arch-rivals Orlando Pirates in their next DStv Premiership game on Saturday in what will their 99th league meeting between the two side. They first faced each other in a league game in 1971.
Overall, the teams have met 171 times in official matches.
While there will be no fans at the venue as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, bragging rights are very much still at stake as the talk all week long throughout the country has been about this impending clash of old foes. Pirates already did a double over Chiefs winning both legs of their MTN8 semi-final earlier in the campaign but a resurgent Amakhosi will be looking to avenge those losses and continue their movement up the table.
Chiefs and Pirates’ historic rivalry stretches back to 1970 when they met in an official game for the first time a 3rd place play-off game in the Rogue Cup on 24th January 1970, a game Pirates won 6-4. The first league meeting took place on 24 April 1971, which sees us now heading to the 50th anniversary of the first league clash between the sides. They have met a further 97 times in league games since with this game being their 99th league clash. Of their previous 98 league games, Chiefs have won 40 games, with Pirates managing 22 wins, the remaining 36 games ending in a draw.
Their first league clashes in 1971 saw Chiefs complete a league double over Pirates, winning the first league game between the sides in April 1971 4-3 at home and following it up with a 2-1 away win later in the season. Amakhosi did go nine league games without a win against Pirates, which is the clubs longest barren run in league games against their historical rivals. They broke that run with a 3-2 home win in November 2019 and followed it up completing a league double over Pirates with a 1-0 away win in February 2020.
Last season’s league double over Pirates was only the second time that Chiefs had managed to record home and away league wins in the PSL era over Pirates in the same season. The other occasion was in 2005-06. Both times they were led by Ernst Middendorp. The German mentor also shares a special record with another former Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter as they have both managed to go six league games undefeated against Pirates.
Since the PSL era from 1996-97, this will be the 49th league clash between the Soweto giants. Chiefs are slightly ahead having managed to win 13 games to Pirates 11 with another 24 games ending in a draw. In the PSL era, two Chiefs coaches have managed to win their first league game against Pirates.
Ted Dumitru who was in his second spell in charge of the club in the 2003-04 campaign and his first in the PSL in charge of Chiefs, oversaw a 1-0 home league win on 13 December 2003, while Ernst Middendorp is the other coach to have lead Chiefs to victory in his first league game at the helm a 2-0 victory on 29 October 2005. A win for Chiefs on Saturday will see Gavin Hunt become just the third Chiefs coach since 1996-97 to win his first league game against Pirates as Chiefs coach. It will also see Chiefs win back- to- back away league games against Pirates since the 2013-14 and 2014-15.
With history spurring these two teams on, both will be looking to pick up the three points. A win for Chiefs will see them go six league games without a loss and will put them just a point behind Pirates, who they at one stage this season trailed by as many as 9 points. Amakhosi are currently four points behind the Buccaneers and will be motivated by the fact that they can close that gap to a single point when they get a win.
The game will kick off at 15:30 on Saturday and will be live on DStv Channel 202 with the pre-match build up starting at 14:30.
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