Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates meet in a high-stakes Betway Premiership Soweto derby at a sold-out, 94,000-seat FNB Stadium on Sunday.
Third-placed Chiefs, who have rebounded from a slump in form with five wins in a row followed by a draw, are pushing hard for their best league finish since ending as runners-up under Ernst Middendorp in 2019-20.
After ending a 10-year trophy drought with last season’s Nedbank Cup, a third-place finish under caretaker co-coaches Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze would be seen as a real sign of progress for the long-ailing Soweto giants.
Amakhosi lost the last derby in February 3-0, but that came within their four-game losing slump that Ben Youssef on Thursday put down to his team having been disrupted by injuries at the time. He vowed a Chiefs in far better form will go toe to toe with Pirates on Sunday.
Premiership leaders Pirates (58 points from 25 games) have much riding on Sunday’s game. They are involved in a thrilling neck-and-neck title chase to unseat eight-time successive champions Mamelodi Sundowns (57 points from 24 matches), who play Richards Bay away on Saturday.
With so few games left in the season, Bucs will not want to drop points in the derby.
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