Retired Orlando Pirates striker Andries Sebola is adamant the Premier Soccer League title race isn’t over yet, despite leaders Mamelodi Sundowns enjoying a five-point lead and having played an extra game.
Pirates hope to reduce the gap to two points when they face Stellenbosch at Athlone Stadium on Tuesday (7.30pm).
Sundowns face third-placed Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday. Sebola reckons Amakhosi will not allow a second defeat in a row in the capital city, having lost 2-0 away to Siwelele.
“It’s not yet over. Sundowns won’t have it easy against Chiefs. I expect Chiefs to give Sundowns problems; hence, I believe Pirates are still in the race,” Sebola said.
“Against Sundowns, Chiefs will come back stronger like they did against Pirates.”
Even so, Sebola, who established himself as a supersub for Bucs in his heyday in the late 1990s, feels the difference between Pirates and Sundowns is that Bucs have been overreliant on three players in Relebohile Mofokeng, Oswin Appollis and Tshepang Moremi, while the Brazilians “have quality” all round.
“Sundowns have a lot of quality players [whereas] Pirates only rely on three individuals ... If you close them down, Pirates never play,” the Bucs legend said.
Sebola has pleaded with Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou to change his approach against Stellies tonight, telling him to play Appollis closer to Mofokeng and start both Yanela Mbuthuma and Evidence Makgopa up front.
“The coach must change his strategy against Stellies, who’ve always given Pirates tough times. It will be even more difficult now with Gavin Hunt there. Sometimes coach Ouaddou needs to surprise opponents by maybe starting both Mbuthuma and Makgopa,” Sebola said.
“It’s crunch time now, so they need to go for a kill, especially in this away game against Stellenbosch. I don’t think Moremi will play after that injury he sustained in the derby. Mofokeng must continue to play in the middle, but put Appollis closer to him, not wide right.”
Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says his side cannot afford to drop points in their push for a ninth straight league title. His team will go all out to win the match.
“We need to get all the points we have left. It’s a story that still needs to be written, and we must do it if we want to succeed,” he said. “Then, we won’t depend on others, and we shouldn’t.
“We should just focus on ourselves. We are in a moment where all matches become high-level. This is a big challenge ahead.
“There’s almost a week and a half left, and everything will be finished. We need to be very strong in the way we approach every match like we have been doing consistently.”
With Chiefs having not played since their defeat to Siwelele last week, Cardoso is worried that Amakhosi will be fresh while his side have played back-to-back matches.
“It’s quite a big match in South Africa, so we have to go for it and try to make it as best as we can so that we can get points. We need points to progress, so the objective is the same.”
Fixtures (All midweek games start at 7.30pm)
Today: Chippa v Sekhukhune, Buffalo City; Magesi v Orbit, Seshego; Siwelele v Durban, Petrus Molemela; Stellenbosch v Pirates, Athlone.
Tomorrow: Sundowns v Chiefs, Loftus Versfeld; AmaZulu v Arrows, Moses Mabhida; Gallants v Galaxy, Petrus Molemela; Bay v Polokwane, Richards Bay.
Saturday: Gallants v Bay, Petrus Molemela (3pm); Orbit v AmaZulu, Olympia Park (3pm); Galaxy v Chippa, Mbombela (3pm); Arrows v Polokwane, King Zwelithini (5.30pm); Sundowns v Siwelele, Lucas Moripe (5.30pm); Magesi v Pirates, Peter Mokaba (8pm).
Sunday: Sekhukhune v Chiefs, Peter Mokaba (5.30pm).
