Four wins out of four games played so far in the Hollywoodbets Super League have left Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies in buoyant mode. The high-flying continental champions travel to Cape Town to face the University of the Western Cape on Sunday in a mouth-watering battle for supremacy.
While Sundowns Ladies have been in beast mode, their opponents have had a mixed start to the season. Two wins out of four games played has left Thinasonke Mbuli’s side in seventh place on the log after racking up seven points in their opening four games.
Cape Town-born Thalea Smidt who has enjoyed an excellent start to the season in the heart of midfield is looking forward to the encounter.
“UWC is quite a good team and it is never easy playing against them in Cape Town. We plan to stick to our playing style and philosophy which has proved very successful for us since the season began. We are in for a very tough encounter against our opponents and we are looking forward to the clash. As usual, our main objective is to gain maximum points yet again,” Smidt stated.
Miche Minnies who also hails from Cape Town has enjoyed an incredible start to her Sundowns career. The versatile player who joined from Vasco da Gama Ladies has bagged an impressive four goals thus far. Only Boitumelo Rabale (seven goals) and Andisiwe Mgcoyi (six goals) have more strikes from within the Sundowns’ ranks.
“It’s going to be a nice game against UWC. I am excited about the opportunity to play against them because I have never faced the team before. Although, I have played against some of their players who were part of the Sasol league some seasons ago. I am very eager to play in my hometown and I hope that our fine form continues on Sunday,” according to Minnies.
Coach Jerry ‘Kappa’ Tshabalala believes UWC will pose a great threat to his team’s invincibility but reckons his side will have to be at their very best to avoid any upsets.
“We are bracing up for a tough clash this weekend because UWC is a very formidable opponent. Although some results haven’t gone their way this season, they are still a force to be reckoned with and we need to be mindful of that. We have seen their games and we understand some of their struggles, but football can be very unpredictable. In Thinasonke Mbuli, they have a very solid tactician who will be keen to halt our run. Nevertheless, we are ready for them and we are going to deploy our strongest possible team for this crunch encounter. Aside from Khunjulwa Mali who has a slight knock, we have a very healthy unit that we can choose from. We cannot wait to test ourselves against a highly ranked team,” Kappa concluded.
Last season, Banyana Ba Style completed a double over their opponents, and on both occasions, they were met with severe resistance with 1-0 scorelines recorded in the home and away fixtures.
The fixture between Mamelodi Sundowns and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) Ladies will take place on Sunday at the UWC Stadium. The kick-off time for the fixture is 15h00.
