Title decider for PSL
HUNT: WE ARE PLAYING AGAINST A SIDE WHERE THE TITLE IS THEIRS TO LOSE
Sundowns have home advantage in compelling contest.
Gavin Hunt’s Bidvest Wits are in rampant form, but the Clever Boys coach remains well aware that looking for three points away to African champions Mamelodi Sundowns this evening will be an uphill task.
Wits have started the year with an avalanche of goals, netting 12 times in three league games – and on Wednesday night hammering Baroka FC 5-0 to move to the top of the Absa Premiership.
It was Sundowns, however, who beat Wits to the title last season, and it is Sundowns who are looking menacing again in the new campaign, currently sitting just five points behind Wits, with three games in hand.
“We are playing against a side where the title is theirs to lose – we have to be fair,” said Hunt.
“What they have done is unbelievable, so we have great respect and humility going there. But it is just a game, it is part of the calendar, we are looking forward it.”
Downs are also a free-scoring team, having netted 15 goals in their last six league outings. With the constant changing faces at the top, Hunt says it may well go down to the wire, and goal difference may even play a role as the judge and the jury at the end of the season.
“That is what this is about, Sundowns got away with six (against Pirates), SuperSport United got away with six (also against Pirates). I’ve won the league on goal difference, so I know what it is about... it is going to be close until the end... the approach does not change, we know what we have to do and we will try to execute our plan the best way we can.”
Wits have held on to their star man Phakamani Mahlambi after deciding not to release him to the national Under-20 side as they embark on their African Under-20 Cup of Nations journey in Zambia. Sundowns, however, could be without Khama Billiat, Anthony Laffor, and Anele Ngcongca, who all picked up injuries in Masandawana’s 2-1 midweek victory at Platinum Stars.
“It would be a blow to miss all three players at the same time, especially as our schedule is this tight, but we can never use that as an excuse. As long as we have 11 players on the field and seven substitutes, we have to fight on,” Downs coach Pitso Mosimane told the club’s website.
Wits and Sundowns have already met once this season, with the Clever Boys stunning the Brazilians 3-0 to win the MTN8.