Kaizer Chiefs will be looking to win a third straight match for the first time this season when they host SuperSport United in a PSL match at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday.
Chiefs are coming from a good weekend when they beat Chippa United 3-0 to advance to the Nedbank Cup quarter-final, the win coming after their 1-0 victory over Stellenbosch in the league.
That has added belief in camp and with a struggling SuperSport up next, there is plenty of optimism that Nasreddine Nabi’s team can collect maximum points.
There is also the incentive of a place in the top four if Nabi’s men win on Tuesday, adding onto the need to go all out.
Head-to-head
This is the third time Chiefs and SuperSport are facing off this season after playing each other in the league and Carling Knockout.
Chiefs and SuperSport faced off twice last October when Amakhosi won 4-0 in the cup game before Matsatsantsa got their revenge a few days later, winning 1-0 in the PSL.
That goal was scored by Tashreeq Morris, who has since switched to Chiefs, and both teams will believe that they can get a result from the game.
Matches between these two teams have been evenly-balanced as in their last 10 meetings, SuperSport have won five, Chiefs walking away with four victories, with one ending in a draw, including last season when Matsatsantsa won the first leg 1-0 before losing the return match 2-1.
Form guide
Both teams have not shown great form this season but between the two veteran coaches, it is Chiefs’ Nabi who comes into the match with less pressure compared to his SuperSport counterpart Gavin Hunt.
While Chiefs have struggled to get a consistent run, SuperSport are finding wins hard to come by, with no victory in the league since December 14, 2024 when they beat Magesi 1-0.
Since then, Hunt’s team have played six league matches and lost four, drawing two, a run of form that leaves them in 12th place on the table with 17 points from as many matches, and to add onto their woes, they are the lowest scorers in the PSL with just seven goals.
Chiefs, meanwhile, are in sixth place with 25 points from 17 games but have not won back-to-back in the league since the opening first two rounds.
That is a record that will give SuperSport confidence ahead of the key match where three points are desperately needed by both teams.
Team news
Chiefs were rocked by news that six players would not be unavailable for their Nedbank Cup match against Chippa with Nabi revealing that captain Yusuf Maart, Sibongiseni Mthethwa, Dillon Solomons, Edmilson Dove, Wandile Duba, and Ashley Du Preez would be absent.
However, Nabi will welcome back Maart, who served his one-match suspension at the weekend, but it is not certain if any of the other five has passed the fitness test.
Chiefs still fielded a strong line-up against Chippa, which should be the case against SuperSport, with midseason signings Thabo Cele, Glody Lilepo and Tashreeq Morris impressing so far.
Morris will be facing his former team just over two weeks after leaving while it is not certain if Christian Saile’s loan terms at SuperSport from Chiefs allows him to face his parent club.
What have they said?
Nabi has kept asking Chiefs fans to give him time as he believes his team will eventually come good and he can endear himself to the supporters further with three points on Tuesday.
“We still have a lot of work to do… a long road to travel. We are not even half the team we dream of but the biggest certainty is that we're heading in the right direction,” Nabi said as quoted by Sowetan Live.
“If we can improve on those little things and have control of the game for the whole 90 minutes and plus [then we can be the team we dream of].
“We need to be the team that decides the tempo of the game as to when we need to accelerate and when we need to slow things down, then we will be consistent.”
Time & where to watch
The match will kick off at 19.30 at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday and will be live on SuperSport TV (SS202).
Kaizer Chiefs predicted XI
Bvuma, Frosler, Dortley, Miguel, Cross, Maart, Cele, Sirino, Lilepo, Shabalala, Morris
