Mamelodi Sundowns will be determined to secure their second straight win in the DStv Premiership when they welcome Golden Arrows to the ABSA Tuks Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Tshwane giants will come into this encounter off the back of a win after a stoppage-time goal from Peter Shalulile saw Sundowns secure a narrow 1-0 win over Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Arrows, meanwhile, will be looking for their third consecutive win in the league after they secured a thrilling 3-2 victory over Chippa United when Ntsikelelo Nxadi, Nduduzo Sibiya and Pule Mmodi cancelled out goals by Etiosa Ighodaro and Ronald Pfumbidzai at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on Saturday.
The win takes Sundowns to the top of the league standings – level on 13 points with second-placed Richards Bay after seven matches, while Arrows’ win sees them remain in 10th place on the table with eight points from six matches.
“We are always preparing our team for that and we do create the opportunities that we want to create because our wish always is to break the game down very early, which is what I think is what happened in our game against Kaizer Chiefs, whereby very early in the game we’ve already put them on the sword and now they must come out,” Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi said.
“But if you don’t score those early chances that you get – if you bury one of those chances then the game changes its complexion and it becomes very difficult for the team that had planned to sit back when they now have to open out and come to you.
“And that is why it becomes easier that when you score you may end up scoring a lot of goals because now the strategy that was being prepared throughout the week was always to sit back and make life difficult, but that type of a game requires a lot of courage and character from our team and a lot of patience not to always look for that final pass.
“I think the second half was a little bit better with an extra touch and an extra pass to try and find openings and frustrate the opposition because the ball is always moving and I think we did that very well, but unfortunately when you’re not scoring the game looks like it’s very difficult.”
The Brazilians managed to do the double over Arrows last season in the DStv Premiership after they edge out Arrows 1-0 in the first leg before hammering Abafana Bes’thende 6-0 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in the return leg.
Both Manqoba Mngqithi and Vusumuzi Vilakazi will be boosted by the fact that there are no injuries or suspensions to report in both camps ahead of their mouthwatering fixture on Saturday evening.
After failing to find the back of his net in his previous match, Peter Shalulile returned to the scoring sheets after he bagged the winning goal against Chippa United to take his tally to five goals for the season.
Pule Mmodi will look to build on his previous performance after he found the back of the net for Arrows in his last appearances, having now contributed to three goals, with two goals and one assist to his name.
Mamelodi Sundowns’ DStv Premiership Form:
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Golden Arrows’ DStv Premiership Form:
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