Chance for Royal AM to swoop on Swallows
THE Dstv premiership season has entered its final 10 matches and every club has set its realistic expectations for when the campaign folds.
The log has now been divided into four groups with Mamelodi Sundowns only making it a matter of when, rather than if, they become champions.
A group of five teams are firmly in the relegation battle while the next five look to cement their top eight aspirations. CAF Champions League participation is a realistic goal for five other teams and it seems as if it might go down to the wire.
Swallows FC will travel to Durban as an unpredictable Royal AM side awaits at the Chatsworth Stadium at 3.30pm today.
The Dube birds are a point above the relegation zone having played a game more than the two teams behind them.
Dylan Kerr’s men have simply not been good enough in front of goal this season, 11 goals in 21 matches is certainly relegation form.
Very few football fans would have predicted that the newly formed Royal AM would be second on the log after 20 matches, but such is the reality and they’ll want to consolidate a champions league position when Swallows come around.
Similar to Swallows, 14th-placed Chippa United have been riding the Bienvenu Eva Nga train for a while now the Cameroonian has nine goals this season and has been the only shining light in a poor Chilli Boys outfit.
Coach Kurt Lentjies will demand a show of character and resilience when his team visit Golden Arrows at Kwamashu’s Princess Magogo Stadium in a 3.30pm kick-off today.
Abafana bes’thende are three points away from a top eight position on the log but will need to improve their home record of one win in the last six games if they’re to overcome a desperate Chippa.
Arrows coach Lehlohonolo Seema will hope experienced Zimbabwean Knox Mutizwa will be able to replicate his KZN derby exploits (against Maritzburg), a match he finished with a brace.
Marumo Gallants are in dreamland at the moment, the Limpopo side have collected 18 points from their last 10 games.
The impact of coach Dan ‘Dance’ Malesela was immediate and it has pulled them from the relegation zone into potential top eight candidates.
Bahlabane Ba Ntwa are three points behind seventh-placed Sekhukhune. However the visit of Stellenbosch FC provides a different and difficult challenge to the team’s Total Football approach. This match is set to kick off at 5.30pm at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium today.