Galaxy threat to Swallows
TAB Soccer 10 customers need to decide whether Swallows can extend their amazing unbeaten run when they take on tricky opponents in TS Galaxy at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit tonight.
TAB soccer pools yielded several mega payouts over the weekend and more big wins are likely this week, especially on Saturday when the headline Soccer 10 pool will kick off with a R200,000 add-in.
One of the challenges facing TAB soccer customers tonight is whether Swallows can extend their amazing unbeaten run.
Samiel Julies, once a hot prospect at Sundowns but now competing in the GladAfrica Championship for the University of Pretoria, was the last player responsible for a Swallows FC defeat.
It was a year ago this week that Julies scored the second-half winner as AmaTuks beat the Birds 3-2 in a first division clash.
Since then Swallows have gone on an incredible run. First, they were unbeaten in their last seven games of last season and dramatically pipped Ajax Cape Town to the first division title on the last day of the campaign.
Since then they have added 16 league games and two cup ties to that unbeaten run for a 27-match total going into tonight’s clash in Nelspruit against TS Galaxy.
Swallows were eliminated from the Nedbank Cup last Friday, but that was on post-match penalties. The match itself ended in a 2-2 draw, thus maintaining their unbeaten run.
Tonight’s game at the Mbombela Stadium comes against a tricky opponent with every potential to end Swallows’ sequence.
A crash landing for the Birds has been predicted for months now, but they keep confounding predictions in the best performance yet by a newcomer to the Premier Soccer League. Currently they sit six points behind log-leaders Sundowns with both having played 16 games.
With Sundowns playing in African Champions League this week, Swallows can cut that lead to three points in Nelspruit.
Second-placed SuperSport United, who have already played two matches more than Sundowns, can draw level with their neighbours in the PSL table but must get the better of AmaZulu in Durban tonight.
After successive 1-1 draws that is a tall order for SuperSport against an AmaZulu team showing much-improved confidence since Benni McCarthy took over as coach.
Pirates have been winning well in both the African Confederation Cup and the Nedbank Cup, but need more consistency in the PSL if they are to launch a late bid for honours. They need to win in Bloemfontein tonight.