Defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns face PSL contenders Richards Bay in a last-32 clash set for the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Tuesday.
The match kicks off at 7:30pm.
Sundowns beat Marumo Gallants 2-1 in the 2022 Nedbank Cup final in May en route to the treble. They are now on a run that has seen them win 15 games on the bounce. The latest a hard-fought 1-0 victory away to Orlando Pirates this past weekend.
“Congratulations to the players, [it is] not easy to come to Orlando Stadium, [and play against] a team that was in form,” said Rhulani Mokwena in the wake of the triumph over Pirates.
Sundowns also start their Caf Champions League group stage campaign in just a few days. So they could spring several changes tonight.
“The long and short of it is that, it’s just rotation and giving others a fair chance, which I think they’ve done really well. [Andile Jali] AJ has been superb… [Bongani] Zungu has had some very good minutes for him and to build him he’s had some very good possibilities,” added the Brazilians’ coach.
Richards Bay have been one of the surprise packages of the DStv Premiership this season.
But the Natal Rich Boys have stuttered lately and they were beaten 1-0 at Swallows FC.
In head-to-head stats, this will be the third overall meeting of Sundowns and Bay. The clubs first clashed in this very same stage of last season’s Nedbank Cup, with the Brazilians claiming a 4-0 win at the Princess Magogo Stadium in early February 2022.
Since then, the Natal Rich Boyz have earned promotion to the top-flight and impressed in the Premiership – though they were no match for Rhulani Mokwena’s charges when the teams met at King Zwelithini Stadium for a league clash in early January, with the visitors triumphing 2-0 thanks to strikes from Cassius Mailula and Haashim Domingo.