It came as a shock to the South African soccer fraternity when the 'Students' (as Wits have been nicknamed due to their association with the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg) exited the PSL at the end of the 2004 – 2005 season and had to play out a season in the Mvela Golden League.

Thanks to a healthy cash investment from Bidvest, The Students were able to bounce back immediately and returned to the PSL, in order to ensure that they remain for a long time in the PSL.

Wits, with their newfound wealth, made a number of astute signings and roped in the likes of Moeneeb Josephs and Abram Raselemane from Ajax Cape Town and SuperSport United. The pick of their new season signings must be that of Brazilian striker Julio De Jesus who contributed by scoring both of Wits' goals when the teams met earlier in the season.

Chiefs will be aiming to end a losing streak that has seen them lose their last two league games against Mamelodi Sundowns and Golden Arrows. With the league title having slipped away, Chiefs will now focus on finishing as high up on the table as possible.

They will be resuming the defence of their ABSA Cup title in a week’s time and Ernst Middendorp will be hoping the game against a strong Wits team will be the perfect preparation for his team’s opening Cup game against Golden Arrows in ten days time.

The Chiefs coach is well aware of the pressure on him to produce results, as well as that being placed on his team.

He took them for an outing to watch the Proteas humble Pakistan in the fifth and final one day international that took place at the Wanderers on Wednesday. Having cheered the Proteas on to victory on Wednesday, the Chiefs coach noted with delight on Thursday after training, that the visit to the cricket had done wonders to team morale.

As the team went through their paces on Thursday morning they did so in a relaxed and jovial mood, and look confident of resuming normal service with a win on Saturday.

Form

Wits, like Chiefs, had at one stage played themselves into a position where they could have strongly challenged for the title but a number of loses and poor performances put paid to what hopes they might have harboured of winning the league.

Early on in the season when Chiefs and Wits clashed it was the students who emerged the victors - at that stage they had caught everyone out by surprise and were amongst the top two teams on the table.

Recently Wits have not been playing the same type of running football that they displayed earlier on in the season, and their poor form could be attributed to the fact that they have missed the scoring touch of Brazilian striker Julio De Jesus.

Jesus who was Wits' match winner form the earlier meeting between the two teams in September last year, has been sidelined recently through injury. There is talk though that he could well make a return to action against The Amakhosi on Sunday, which will add strength to Wits' attacking force.

While Wits might have claimed Chiefs' scalp in the first meeting between the two teams this season, it was Chiefs who emerged the victors at the second coming in a Telkom Cup match against the students at the Johannesburg Stadium in October. Although Chiefs did go down early on in the game, a Rotson Kilambe brace sealed Chiefs passage to the next round.

At the present time, Chiefs and Wits have exactly the same kind of record in their last three games with either team having lost two and won one game during their last three league outings. While Ernst Middendorp has not been particularly pleased with his team's recent performances, Chiefs are expected to make a strong comeback this weekend against the students.

Key Players

Should he start then, Wits striker Julio De Jesus will most definitely be the one to watch. De Jesus was Chiefs' tormentor in September, scoring two well-taken goals. Along with the dangerous De Jesus is the tricky Abram Raselemane, who during his time with SuperSport always had the knack of finding the back of the net against Chiefs.

Fabian McCarthy made a return to action during Chiefs 1-0 loss to Golden Arrows, and added balance to the Chiefs backline and demonstrated his ability to be an excellent man-marker as he kept Arrows Khanyeza in check over the weekend. He will be expected to do much the same on Sunday, if De Jesus does happen to be fit enough for the weekend then Fabian will have a busy Sunday afternoon.

Results Chiefs Vs Wits since 1996 – 1997

1996 – 1997


Wits University 0 Kaizer Chiefs 0


Kaizer Chiefs 0 Wits University 1

1997 – 1998


Wits University 0 Kaizer Chiefs 2


Kaizer Chiefs 1 Wits University 1

1998 – 1999


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Zwane. M. 75’) Wits University 1


Wits University 0 Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Nomvete 70’, Radebe 76’)

1999 – 2000


Kaizer Chiefs 0 Wits University 0


Wits University 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Mbuthu 84’)

2000 – 2001


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Nomvete 83’) Wits University 0


Wits University 1 Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Sithole 25’, Mooki 65’)

2001 – 2002


Wits University 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Macamo 25’)


Kaizer Chiefs 0 Wits University 0

2002 – 2003


Wits University 1 Kaizer Chiefs 0


Kaizer Chiefs 0 Wits University 2

2003 – 2004


Wits University 0 Kaizer Chiefs 0


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Motaung Jnr 5’) Wits University 1

2004 – 2005


Wits University 1 Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Nengomasha 70’, Radebe 76’)


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Mbesuma pen 90 min) Wits University 0

2006 - 2007


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Fernandez) Bidvest Wits 2 (De Jesus x2)

Head to Head since 1996 – 1997