‘Bucs have this derby in the bag’

Mugeyi tips ‘consistent’ Pirates against dodgy Chiefs defence but warns the Amakhosi can bounce back

Former Umtata Bush Bucks star William Mugeyi says Orlando Pirates will have the upper hand when they clash against arch rivals Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.

The former PSL defender said he was neutral in this instance, but he would support the stronger team on the day.

“One thing for sure out of the two teams there will be a weaker one. Pirates might have this one in the bag.

“If you look at Pirates right now they play good football and they are consistent, unlike Chiefs,” Mugeyi said.

He said Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp was likely to take a risk and draft in former Chippa United goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi whom Amakhosi recently signed from the Nelson Mandela Bay-based outfit.

“One of Chiefs’ weaknesses is the goalkeeping department. You can clearly see that Kaizer Chiefs without Itumeleng Khune is not the team that everyone knows.

“It’s worse now that they’ve brought in a young man in that department [Virgil Vries] and I’m not sure if he’s going to make the starting line up.

“Honestly, Vries outside but he is might under try to be strong a lot of pressure because he’s letting the team down.

“And I’m sure they don’t want to throw him into the pit again in front of a full house. I see them saying let’s not punish this boy.

“If he makes more mistakes people will crucify him. That’s already happening and that could destroy his future.”

Mugeyi said should Middendorp field Vries, Pirates might take that as an advantage.

“Chiefs are playing in the Champions League and their defence is questionable.

“Pirates know how to exploit Chiefs’ defensive weaknesses.

“But on the other hand Chiefs are aware of what’s happening and they are trying hard to rectify their mistakes.

“They will want to bounce back in a good way and I think this game is going to be very exciting because of that.’’

Mugeyi said another exciting thing about this derby was the possibility of seeing MultiChoice Diski Challenge [MDC] star Happy Mashiane who’s been making a name for himself in MDC.

“In South African football when you are 17 to 20 years old people will say that you are still young. But in actual reality that’s not correct. Should a person be 25 years old to be ready for the PSL?

“In Europe when you are over 21, they consider you old and I think that Mashiane is ready to play in the derby.

“They should let him commit mistakes now and let him grow because that’s the right age to be playing top level football.”