SuperSport United have set their sights on claiming their first win in the DStv Premiership when they welcome Orlando Pirates to the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday evening.
Matsatsantsa will come into this encounter off the back of two straight defeats following their 2-0 loss to TS Galaxy after conceding goals from Spiwe Msimango and Ebrahim Seedat at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Sunday.
Pirates, meanwhile, returned to winning ways following their narrow 1-0 victory over Royal AM with Deon Hotto scoring the decisive goal at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Wednesday evening.
The defeat saw SuperSport drop down to 14th place in the league standings with just one point after three games, Pirates’ win sees them climb up to fourth place on the log with seven points from their opening four matches of the season.
“If I have to give an honest assessment, yeah they had the ball, they played but the chances we had in front of goals which we have not scored in three games, we could have been [on] nine points,” SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt said.
“But you have to defend better. We have not defended better and obviously, the game opens up but at the end of the day I think we had the best chances but we didn’t score.”
Meanwhile, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro said: “We are working on it. At home [against Chippa United], we generated plenty of goal-scoring opportunities and against Swallows as well, but of course, we would like to score more goals.
“The only thing we can do is to build the confidence of the players.”
Coming into this fixture both SuperSport and Pirates earned themselves three points apiece when they met last season in the DStv Premiership after the Buccaneers claimed a 3-2 win at the Orlando Stadium in the first leg before SuperSport exact their revenge by securing a 2-0 win at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in the return leg.
Gavin Hunt is expected to have a full-strength squad for the upcoming fixture with no injuries or suspensions, while Jose Riveiro will continue to be without new signing Evidence Makgopa, who is yet to make his debut due to an injury.
SuperSport youngster Thapelo Maseko will look to build on his previous performances after he bagged his first-ever goal for the club in their defeat to AmaZulu on matchday two.
Deon Hotto will look to continue his current form for the Buccaneers which has seen him open his account by scoring the winning goal in their recent victory over Royal AM in midweek action of the DStv Premiership.
SuperSport United Form This Season:
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Orlando Pirates Form This Season:
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