The much anticipated DStv Premiership clash between Mamelodi Sundowns and Chippa United is reaching fever pitch as the reigning champions prepare to travel to Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. Masandawana are ready to leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of victory, having won all the opening encounters in the new season to defend their title, Bafana Ba Still will be looking to solidify their good run in the new season, while the opposition team is in search of their first victory.\
“I think playing Chippa United is always a difficult match especially in their own background, I mean we are expecting a difficult, intense match. A very counter attacking team that are very quick on the sides. I think that they are also motivated by playing those draws against Orlando pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, so I think they are extra motivated, but we are expecting a very difficult match.” Said Downs midfielder, Neo Maema.
As the two sides gear up to lock horns, Maema took a moment to further share his insights and analysis on the players that they will be facing on the field. The skillful maestro spoke about the importance of approaching the game with a balanced mix of strategy and intensity to deal with United’s plans.
“I think that their wings are very quick in the counter attack, I think that’s their main strength, they also got some new players in [Luvuyo] Memela and [Augustine] Mulenga who are also influential to them and their game plan. I think those are the players that will be imposing threats going forward and those are the players that can cause us troubles, and we’ve got to make sure that we guard against that.”
“We know how to guard against such things because we are preparing for them, making sure that our plans and our goals are actually to get those 3 points, to work hard as a team, stay together and guard against whatever they are going to pose and make sure that we are ready for Saturday.”
Of the 26 overall matches played between the two sides, Masandawana have won 15 of those meeting, while United have 2 wins and 9 draws between them. Maema stressed the importance of teamwork and unity within the squad as an approach to this battle, emphasizing that staying true to the Sundowns style of play will be their secret weapon.
“It’s very important for us to focus on our goals, there’s things that are happening at the beginning of the season, when we start and then to get the game closer together and then to get our game plans also. It’s only the start, the coach told us that it’s never going to be easy this season, people are gonna talk and we should just stick together as a team and make sure that we focus more on our plans and and on our goals and that’s in winning every single match that there is.”
“We know that everybody wants to beat us and come at us, we know what to do because we are a big club and we are the defending champions and we must make sure that we are ready when the time comes for us to play each and every match, play it to win it. It’s very important for us not only to look at the calls but also the goals that we score but also the clean sheet that we got out of four matches so that’s also important for us. So it’s only the start of the season and we can getting there.”
Mamelodi Sundowns do battle with Chippa United in the DStv Premiership on Saturday at the nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Kick off is at 20H00 on SuperSport TV.
