Sundowns vs Polokwane team news: The Brazilians sweat over fitness of key stars

The PSL champions could miss up to five dependable players in Sunday’s MTN8 clash

Mamelodi Sundowns are likely to be without goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, centre-back Abdelmounaim Boutouil and attacker Thembinkosi Lorch on Sunday.

Sundowns take on Polokwane City in the MTN8 quarter-final this weekend and will have to do without some of their dependable players.

The three were excluded from Sundowns’ squad that travelled to Austria for pre-season due to injuries and appear not to have shaken them off ahead of the match.

Who else will Sundowns likely miss?

It is not just those three that could miss the match, Sundowns are also sweating over the fitness of two other players as revealed by coach Manqoba Mngqithi in the week.

“Lorch is in a very good headspace, we were with him even this morning, he’s started training although he’s not into full training,” Mngqithi said on Thursday.

“It’s him, [Sipho] Mbule are still out due to minor injuries, [Matias] Esquivel might be in… towards the end of the week due to a minor strain,” added the tactician while providing an injury update ahead of Sunday’s match.

Polokwane have their dynamic duo present

There are no such troubles for Polokwane who are glad to have retained the services of key players Oswin Appollis and Thabang Matuludi despite interest from a host of clubs.

Sundowns are favourites to win the match and seal a semi-final place where holders Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch await ahead of Sunday’s draw.

The Brazilians last won the competition in 2022 and have seen Pirates claim back-to-back crowns, a trend Manqoba Mngqithi is keen to change after taking over from Rulani Mokwena.