Stellies set to land their first trophy
TAB soccer fans are looking forward to another wonderful weekend of football that features the final of the new Carling Knockout between Stellenbosch and TS Galaxy plus two bumper carryover pools comprising the first Soccer 10 pool on Saturday and the weekend’s Soccer Any 13 Xtra. Look out for the details and tips from expert tipsters in this week’s Diski Tips.
It is now 15 months since Mamelodi Sundowns last lost a league game in a remarkable record of domestic dominance, but their real ambition remains to conqueror the continent and that is still a work in progress.
That much was obvious last Sunday, when Sundowns stuttered again in African Champions League and dropped points at home. Sundowns are participating in the group phase of African Champions League for the ninth successive season after winning the new African Football League last month.
Surprisingly in light of that triumph, they have made a stumbling start to their Group A campaign with a loss in the Democratic Republic of Congo followed by the home draw with Pyramids of Egypt last weekend.
After playing Cape Town Spurs on Wednesday night, Sundowns get a short break before travelling to Cairo to take on Pyramids again on Tuesday next week. The brief rest after a hectic schedule of two games per week, will do them good and it will be no surprise if Rulani Mokwena’s team win away in the Egyptian capital.
Saturday sees Stellenbosch start as hot favourites to beat TS Galaxy in the Carling Knockout final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. The game is first up in a R200,000 carryover Soccer 10 pool that should total some R2 million and could pay big bucks.
It should be remembered that Galaxy’s only previous cup final appearance was at the same venue in 2019, when they stunned Kaizer Chiefs and won the Nedbank Cup. That remains the only time to date that a second-tier club has won a major cup prize in South African football.
So Galaxy have the ability and history to create another upset, but everything points to a Stellenbosch win.
For a start the club have won eight and drawn one of their last nine games and are up to third in the league standings. They hammered Galaxy 3-0 in Stellenbosch in early October at the start of that run and have never been in better form. Galaxy, on the other hand, have scored in only one away game this season - albeit it in Durban in their semi-final success over AmaZulu.
The other games in the carryover Soccer 10 are all English Championship matches and, as is well known, that league is among the toughest in the world and delivers more than its fair share of shock results. So you can expect a handsome payout, although the likes of Stellenbosch and Southampton both appeal as bankers to win their respective games.
HIRED/FIRED: Two interim managers got winning starts last weekend as Mike Dodds helped Sunderland to victory over West Brom, while Alan Sheehan stepped in at Swansea after Michael Duff was fired, and led them to a 2-1 away win at Rotherham United.
BACK IN ACTION: Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says he hopes the treatment room at the club, where there are several high-profile players recovering from injuries, will now start to empty rapidly. He expects some of them to return to action in Sunday’s away clash with Golden Arrows.