Kaizer Chiefs, with four wins and just one loss in their last six league games, will be out to make it four victories in a row, when they host Stellenbosch at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday evening with kickoff at 17h30. Amakhosi, who got the better of Stellenbosch when the sides clashed earlier in the season, will be looking to complete a league double over their visitors for the first time.
Chiefs and Stellenbosch have faced off on seven occasions in league games, with each team recording two win. The remaining three games have ended all square, Chiefs will be looking to win a home league game over Stellenbosch for the first time. On the three previous occasions when hosting Stellenbosch, two games have been drawn, while last season, Stellenbosch won 1-0, with Stellenbosch’s winning goal in that game scored by current Chiefs forward, Ashley Du Preez.
When the teams clashed earlier in the season at the Cape Town Stadium, Chiefs striker Caleb Bimenyimana held his nerve to become the first player in the PSL era to score a hattrick of penalties in a single game, as Chiefs won 3-1.
Amakhosi will be fully aware that they face a fiery contest from a Stellenbosch team which had Mogamad De Goede sent off in their clash back on 9 October last year, a game in which Chiefs came from a goal down to win. It will again be a test of the nerve for Chiefs, as the Glamour Boys look to keep pressure on SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates, who are ahead of them in the race for the second spot in next season’s CAF Champions League.
Chiefs do have form on their side, coming into this game on a three-game winning run in the league, having recently overcome Orlando Pirates, Richards Bay and Maritzburg. Chiefs last won four league games in succession in the 2019-20 season and will be confident of repeating the feat, although they do face a Stellenbosch team unbeaten in their last five league games, thanks in large part to the form and goals of Iqraam Rayners, who returned to the club from SuperSport in the January transfer window,
He will pose a challenge to the Chiefs backline which has kept two clean sheets in their last three league games. The game is a reunion for Chiefs players, Ashley Du Preez and Zitha Kwinika, who come up against their former teammates.
Chiefs coach, Arthur Zwane, will be without Yusuf Maart who is suspended for the game. The midfielder who converted a late penalty in Chiefs’ last league clash, a 3-2 away win over Maritzburg United, but also received a booking in the game that puts him out of contention. Zwane, though, does have plenty of options to mitigate the absence of Maart, while Stellenbosch will be without Sibongiseni Mthethwa, who likewise is suspended.
SOURCED FROM THE CHIEFS WEBSITE.
