Key players

Chiefs

• Siphelele Ntshangase is a player that the Khosi faithful love a lot due to his creativity and ability to come up with a defence-splitting and match-winning pass, yet has been overlooked for much of Middendorp’s tenure so far. He has started only two of Chiefs’ last eight league games. The former Baroka FC man was in the starting line-up in the last game against Cape Town City and will hope he would have done enough to keep his place for the derby.

• After starting his Chiefs career amid fanfare, Khama Billiat is yet to show the consistent performances that turned him into a household name at Mamelodi Sundowns. This could be down to a number of factors, one of which is the understanding with his teammates, but a lot is expected of a player of his calibre and this derby match offers the Zimbabwean an opportunity to remind South Africa of his class. He has been involved in only one goal in these eight games (1 assist). He was involved in seven goals (4 goals, 3 assists) in the first 11 games of the competition, with Ntshangase as a starter. This seems to suggest there’s a great telepathy between the two and, if given the chance on Saturday, could cause all sorts of problems for the Buccaneers! Billiat has been involved in four goals in his last five games against Pirates in all competitions (2 goals, 2 assists).

Pirates

• Vincent Pule (6) and Thembinkosi Lorch (4) have scored 10 of Pirates’ 26 goals in the Absa Premiership this season, including scoring four match-winning goals (2 each).

• Lorch scored in his last game against Kaizer Chiefs, in the Telkom Knockout semi-final in November last year. Meanwhile, Pule (1 goal, 1 assist) has been involved in two goals in his last two games against Chiefs in all competitions (2W). So these are two Pirates players that seem to be always be fired up for the derby and the Chiefs defence may, once again, have a tough time trying to contain them!