Marumo Gallants will look to maintain their unbeaten record in the DStv Premiership when they travel to the Orlando Stadium to face Orlando Pirates on Wednesday evening.
Pirates will come into this match on a two-match unbeaten run after they earned a point by playing out to a goalless draw at SuperSport United.
Gallants twice surrendered their lead against Royal AM to be held to a 2-2 draw at the Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday.
The draw saw the Buccaneers move up to third place in the league standings with eight points from four matches, while Gallants remain in 11th place with four points in four matches after four consecutive draws.
Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro said: “We spoke about this many times in the previous games, the goal is the most difficult thing to do in this game, it will come.
“It’s a question of confidence and in the moment sometimes a bit of luck, even a rebound, score and get the advantage and you feel much more comfortable with the other attacks.
“But the anxiety when you see that you don’t convert, time is running (out), sometimes is playing against us. We need to be a bit more calm, more precise in the last minutes and sometimes take an extra touch when we’re in the box in order to prepare the next action, so it’s going to come.”
Orlando Pirates will have the advantage heading into this encounter after they collected four out of six points in the league last season after the two teams played out to a goalless draw in the first leg before the Soweto giants edged out Gallants 2-1 in the return leg at the Orlando Stadium.
Riveiro will be boosted by the fact that he’ll have his entire squad fit.Thabo Mnyamane misses out for the visitors.
Deon Hotto was one of Pirates’ standout performers last season after bagging eight goals and five assists in 29 appearances and he has already managed to find the back of the net this campaign as he looks to add to his tally against Gallants.
Sede Dion played an influential figure in the Gallants’ setup last season, having netted six goals and one assist in 25 appearances across all competition and the Ivorian forward is looking to emulate that same form, having already opened his account for Gallants this campaign with one goal in four matches.
Orlando Pirates Form This Season:
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Marumo Gallants Form This Season:
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