Mamelodi Sundowns return to league action when they face Stellenbosch FC at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday December 18.
Sundowns have been involved in CAF Champions League assignments in the last two weeks but will look to reassert themselves in the league when they take on a Stellenbosch team that have been improving.
It will be the first league match for new coach Miguel Cardoso, who started his reign with a 1-0 win over Raja Casablanca of Morocco.
Form guide
The Brazilians are unbeaten in their last four matches across all competitions although their back-to-back Champions draws led to the sacking of coach Manqoba Mngqithi before he was replaced by Cardoso.
There was, however, a 3-0 win over Sekhukhune United in between, their last league match, which sent them top of the table on 21 points, level with Orlando Pirates, but with a superior goal difference.
Stellenbosch will, however, offer a different test as they are high on confidence after securing a 1-0 win over Lunda Sul in the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday while they handed Pirates their first league loss which sent them to fourth on the table.
Sundowns will also need no reminding that it is Stellies who knocked them out of the MTN8 in the semi-final, having handed them back-to-back 1-0 defeats.
Head-to-head
Those two losses in the MTN8 were the first time Stellies were beating Sundowns, having lost three straight games against them prior to that.
Stellenbosch had managed just two wins in eight matches against Sundowns before the cup losses with the Brazilians managing four wins while two matches ended in draws over that period.
However, Stellenbosch will back themselves this time to make it a hat-trick of victories over the PSL champions given their form and what they showed early in the season.
What have they said?
Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker is not looking at the MTN8 game and feels Wednesday will be totally different.
“Playing against a great team like Sundowns who are top of the league is a big challenge for us but we want to aspire to challenge and these types of games become big for us. It is up to us to continue getting points in the league so that we can stay in touch,” said Barker.
“It will be a different kind of game, obviously a player like [Iqraam] Rayners was not available in the MTN8, he is on very good goalscoring form so I think they are a stronger team but I believe we’ve also grown since the MTN8 and we know those results don’t count for anything.”
Team news
Sundowns have former Stellenbosch striker Iqraam Rayners in great form after scoring in his last five games to take his tally for the season to 11 in 14 matches. Stellies, meanwhile, signed ex-Sundowns defender Brian Onyango but the Kenyan is unlikely to feature.
Time and where to watch
The match will kick off at 19.30 at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday and will be live on SuperSport TV (SS202).
Predicted lineups
Stellenbosch predicted XI: Stephens, Moloisane, Toure, Mkaba, Basadien, Nduli, Adams, De Jong, Titus, Barns, Cupido
Sundowns predicted XI: Williams, Mudau, Kekana, Khoza, Lebusa, Allende, Mokoena, Aubaas, Ribeiro, Rayners, Shalulile
