Chiefs ready for Capital battle with Sundowns
Chiefs ready for Capital battle with Sundowns

Posted in News, Team News on Sep 10, 2021.

Kaizer Chiefs will be looking to continue their good run of away form they have experienced in recent campaigns against Mamelodi Sundowns, when they travel to face the Brazilians on Sunday in a crucial DStv Premiership game.

The game, to be played at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria at 17h00 on Sunday, will see Chiefs going in search of a third successive away league victory against the Brazilians.

Last season in the corresponding fixture Chiefs came from a goal down to defeat Sundowns, with substitute Dumsani Zuma scoring the game’s winner in the 75th minute after Sundowns had initially taken the lead through Gaston Sirino in the first half.

When Sundowns hosted Chiefs in the 2019-20 season, Amakhosi won a tight league game 2-0 and are currently undefeated in their last four away league games against Sundowns, having won three of the games in that run and drawn one.

“Loftus is our happy hunting ground. We play well there, we play a good brand of football and we get positive results too,” says captain Itumeleng Khune. So, it won’t be any different this coming weekend. It will be a great match between the two sides. We know what happens when we meet – it’s two bulls and as always, we want to come out victorious. The coach has a plan, as players we just have to go out there and execute it and get a positive result out of the game.”

Historically, Chiefs have always been a bogey team for Sundowns, with the team’s first top-flight clashes taking place in the 1983 season.

Since then, they have met 74 times in league games. The clubs’ head to head record has Chiefs winning 31 games, with 20 draws and 23 wins for Sundowns.

Since 1996-97, when the Premier Soccer League started, the teams have met in 50 league games.

Since the advent of the PSL in 1996-97, Chiefs have won the most number of league games against Sundowns with 21 victories, to Sundowns’ 15 and there have been 14 draws.

Chiefs have managed to hold sway in 10 of the 25 league games since 1996-97 in away league games, one more than the hosts have won, while there have been a further 6 draws.

It is a clash that has for the last three decades thrown up intriguing high-scoring games, which have seen each team score freely with a total of 164 goals scored over their 74 league clashes, at an average of 2.21 goals per game.

Chiefs have also managed to score more goals than Sundowns in these games, netting 91 at an average of 1.22 goals per game, while Sundowns have scored 73 goals at 0,99 goals.

The intrigue is sure to continue this coming Sunday, with Chiefs looking to win three successive away league games against Sundowns in the PSL era for the first time. Should Chiefs avoid defeat they will also go five away league games against Sundowns without losing.

Chiefs always up the ante when playing against Sundowns. Bernard Parker, who scored in the sides’ earlier meeting this season in the MTN8 quarter-finals which ended 2-2 with Sundowns winning on penalties, will be looking to score again against them.

Should he manage to hit the back of the net, he will take his goalscoring tally against them to 5 goals, which will see him become one of the team’s joint highest scorers against Masandawana.

Khune is encouraged at how Chiefs were able to match Sundowns in that game, and confident they will again give the home team a tough match this weekend.

Both teams head into the DStv Premiership game on four points, having won one game and drawn one at this early stage of the campaign.

While it may be early days, a victory for Chiefs will be a welcome tonic to build momentum and confidence for the games to come.


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