Mamelodi Sundowns continue their league title defence against last season’s surprise package, Stellenbosch at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.
The Tshwane giants will look to regain their position at the top of the standings after relinquishing the spot to Moroka Swallows, who were in action in midweek.
Mamelodi Sundowns vs Stellenbosch: PSL match preview
The fixture against Stellies comes just after Sundowns had conceded their first goals of the campaign – three in total – but managed to emerge on the winning side against AmaZulu.
Speaking in the lead-up to Saturday’s encounter, Manqoba Mnqithi – who heads the club’s trio of coaches – admitted that his side was caught sleeping on a few occasions by Usuthu.
“Overall the goals we conceded were all very soft, good header on a corner kick but we were caught sleeping,” the former Golden Arrows coach said. “I think we had a very good first half, we created a lot of very good moments no wonder we managed to score those three early goals which I believe we could have easily made it four, five in the first half. “The one lesson that one takes is that if you still have an opportunity to score more, take them because you don’t know what could happen in the second half, teams always turn things upside down in the second half.”
Manqoba Mngqithi, Mamelodi Sundowns
Head-to-head results
Prior to Stellenbosch’s ascent into the top flight, the two sides had met in the Nedbank Cup in 2015 – a fixture which ended 1-0 in Sundowns’ favour.
In their two previous league encounter, it has been the Tshwane giants who emerged victorious, winning 3-1 at home before a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture.
Kick-off and TV channel
The match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Stellenbosch kicks off at 18:00 (SAST) and will be broadcast live on DStv Premier Soccer League channel (202).
