Downs are ‘underdogs’
PITSO: THEY’RE FAVOURITES, LOOK AT OUR PAST FOUR GAMES AND LOOK AT THEM
‘They have scored more than anyone else in the league’.
Pitso Mosimane has effectively thrown the ball into Orlando Pirates’ court by declaring that Milutin Sredojevic and his Buccaneers are favourites in this afternoon’s crunch Absa Premiership clash between Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates at Loftus Versfeld.
Mosimane insists their rivals have the upper hand given their solid form this season that sees them at the top of the table.
“They are favourites, look at our past four games and look at them. We have to play very well and the biggest thing is to try and minimise their space because if you allow them to have the space, they play well and they have very good interchanging passes, they move well and then we will be in trouble,” said Mosimane.
While the Sea Robbers look like the team to beat, Mosimane thinks he has spotted some weaknesses in Micho’s team, citing their leaky defence as an area they can exploit.
“Do Barcelona have weaknesses? Yes. Do Juventus have weaknesses? Yes, I saw Manchester United beat them, so which team doesn’t have weaknesses?
“Sometimes the statistics will tell you, when you look at the table, that besides the points and number of games that you have played, there are other components on the log that you can see and say ‘I think there is a weakness or a challenge’.
“Ours is the number of goals that we have scored but our defence is good,” said Mosimane.
“Their strength is in scoring goals, they have scored more than anyone else in the league and their coach knows how to win leagues. His CV is huge and that is the advantage. This year they want it more than any other time, they are a bit hungry, it has been too long for them,” he added.
Incidentally, the last time the Brazilians lost a league game in this calendar year was in this fixture back in January. However, Mosimane chose to dwell more on the memories of Downs thrashing Pirates 6-0 last year.
“I would like say that we beat them 6-0 in that game, I have got those memories but it is not going to be a 6-0 again. We are playing a very good team that is better than us at this point.”