Crunch clash for City, Chiefs

Cape Town City and Kaizer Chiefs will have a crunch clash to headline seven DStv Premiership fixtures across the weekend of Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 March. Catch the action live on SuperSport.

The Citizens and the Amakhosi will meet at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with the hosts still chasing a first win of 2024 and the visitors looking to bounce back from a dramatic Soweto derby defeat earlier in the month.

City are winless in five league and cup matches, most recently suffering a 2-0 loss away to Royal AM before the international break. The poor sequence of results has seen them drop to fifth place on the log, though they are still very much in the running to finish in second spot behind runaway leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

“The fact of the matter is that we are not playing well enough, it is as simple as that. We will get back to the drawing board and look to change that. We’ve been down this route before, we will find the way out,” said City coach Eric Tinkler.

His counterpart at Chiefs, Cavin Johnson, is still stinging from a 3-2 loss to arch-rivals Orlando Pirates in their last outing – as well as a run of just one win from their last six matches across all competitions.

KWAZULU-NATAL DERBY

A busy Saturday also features a KwaZulu-Natal derby between Golden Arrows and Richards Bay (in which the Natal Rich Boyz will be desperate for points to try and haul themselves out of the relegation playoff zone), as well as Sekhukhune United hosting Orlando Pirates in Polokwane.

Babina Noko have put together a four-game winning streak in the league, but such is their hunger for improvement that coach Lehlohonolo Seema was not particularly happy even after a 4-1 win over Moroka Swallows prior to the international break.

“There is a lot of work that we still need to do. We can’t say we are flying high, never. We need to fight and we are looking forward to the next game,” said Seema, who will hope his team can become the first to defeat the Buccaneers in 2024.

Sunday sees just one match, as Cape Town Spurs host Moroka Swallows. The Urban Warriors are placed at the bottom of the log, but they have put together a four-game unbeaten run in the league (two wins, two draws) to spark hope that they could yet mount a successful fight for survival.

As for the Birds, their administrative wrangles with players and the technical staff have affected on-field performances: they have failed to secure an outright win in their last 13 matches across all competitions.

DStv Premiership fixtures, 30-31 March 2024

Times CAT

Saturday 30 March

15:30: Cape Town City v Kaizer Chiefs

15:30: Stellenbosch FC v Royal AM

15:30: Golden Arrows v Richards Bay

15:30: Polokwane City v Chippa United

17:30: TS Galaxy v AmaZulu FC

17:45: Sekhukhune United v Orlando Pirates

Sunday 31 March

15:30: Cape Town Spurs v Moroka Swallows