Staff Reporter.
Kaizer Chiefs have travelled to Polokwane without five members of their first team for the upcoming DStv Premiership clash with Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila.
Kick-off is at 5pm CAT (SA, GMT+2).
Tshakhuma, who will take on Chippa United in the Nedbank Cup final on Saturday, suffered their 12th league defeat of the season when they were beaten 2-1 at home by Limpopo derby and relegation rivals Black Leopards on 1 May.
Vhadau Vha Damani have claimed 12 points from as many home matches this season. Their wins as hosts have come against Baroka FC, Stellenbosch FC and Bloemfontein Celtic.
“We are making things difficult for ourselves,” said TTM coach Mpho Maleka. “We let ourselves down. We didn’t look like we wanted to play according to the way we planned. Leopards were under more pressure than us.
“But we have to move on from this defeat, we have to dust ourselves off. We have made things at the bottom more interesting, but it is still in our hands despite having given three points away against Leopards.
“We have to do what we have to do [against Kaizer Chiefs] because no one will do us any favours. We have to do ourselves a favour.”
Chiefs have won just once in their last six league matches after they could only draw 2-2 away to Bloemfontein Celtic on 1 May. The Soweto side led 2-0 early on through goals from Happy Mashiane and Erick Mathoho.
The Amakhosi have claimed 17 points from 12 away matches this season, though they have won just once in their last six matches on the road.
“Ja‚ good performance‚ a great performance again,” said Kaizer Chiefs head coach Gavin Hunt. “I thought it was a good performance on Wednesday when we lost 1-0 [to Chippa United]. I thought it was a good performance again [against Celtic].
“But the whole Achilles heel of our team‚ you know‚ is defending. I always say you can’t win anything without defending. But the defending starts from the front. And we’ve been unfortunate.
“We had more than enough to win the game. But you can’t come away and score two goals and draw the game. You come away, you should be defending better. But it is what it is.”
In head-to-head stats, Tshakhuma and Chiefs have met in just one previous top-flight league match. That encounter took place earlier this season, with the Amakhosi claiming a 3-0 home win in January 2021 thanks to goals from Nkosingiphile Ngcobo, Lebogang Manyama and Happy Mashiane.
Meanwhile, the club have confirmed that Mashiane has passed a late fitness test, while Akpeyi, Mathoho, Itumeleng Khune (shoulder), Lebohang Lesako (knee) and Khama Billiat (rehabilitation) are all ruled out of today’s fixture.