After reaching the Caf Champions League first round, Amakhosi shift attention to domestic business
Kaizer Chiefs will be bidding to end a three-match Premier Soccer League (PSL) winless streak when they host Black Leopards at FNB Stadium on Wednesday.
It is a battle of wounded sides as Leopards are also struggling for form as they are second from bottom.
Victory for Leopards will see them climbing four rungs up to 11th spot on the log, while a win for Chiefs could lift them go up from 13th place to eighth depending on the goal margin.
With both sides desperate to improve their league fortunes, a brutal confrontation is expected.
It will be Chiefs’ 11th match of the season in all competitions as they face a well-rested Leopards side that has only been involved in five games so far and were last in action on November 25.
Chiefs go into this match fresh from advancing to the Caf Champions League first round after battling their way past Cameroonian champions PWD Bamenda.
| Game | Kaizer Chiefs vs Black Leopards |
| Date | Wednesday, December 9 |
| Time | 19:30 SA Time |
TV Channel, Live Score & How To Watch
The game will be shown live on SuperSport TV and SABC.
| Online Streaming | TV Channel |
|---|---|
| DStv.com/DStv Now App | SuperSport’s PSL channel 202 |
Squads & Team News
At a time when Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt needs all his players to be available since he did not sign any new players, he was hit by injuries on Monday.
Midfielder Dumisani Zuma picked up a hamstring injury, while Kearyn Baccus has a thigh muscle strain.
Although both players haven’t been regulars this season, they would be needed as back-up in a squad that has already played 10 matches this season inside a crammed fixture schedule.
Also in a squad that has goal-shy attackers, Hunt is increasingly getting desperate for the return of striker Samir Nurkovic who, began training this week after a long injury lay-off.
Wednesday’s match will be Dylan Kerr’s second match in charge of Leopards since he returned to the club for a second stint.
The Englishman has experienced players in his squad like Rodney Ramagalela who scored in the 1-0 win over Maritzburg United.
Ghanaian midfielder Edwin Gyimah, Roderick Kabwe and Togo international defender Joseph Douhadji, who once had a stint in the Turkish Super Lig, are some of the battle-hardened players at Kerr’s disposal.
However, veteran forward Robert Ng’ambi has been struggling for game time and it is yet to be seen if Kerr would consider him for the Chiefs encounter.
Match Preview
Chiefs and Leopards can be considered as limping sides as they have endured slow starts to the current PSL season.
For Chiefs, it is the same story about defensive frailties and a blunt strikeforce and repeated talk about that has become somewhat monotonous.
In almost every post-match interview, Hunt complains about his defenders and forwards and there seems to be no end in sight for these problems after 10 matches across all competitions.
That Chiefs have managed just three league goals in five matches constitutes a real crisis as the strikes have come from an opposition own goal and a Leonardo Castro brace.
Conceding six goals in five PSL games exposes Chiefs’ defence, a problem that has also manifested itself in Cup games.
It is yet to be seen if Chiefs’ defence will be at the mercy of a Leopards attack that has managed just two goals this season.
It will also be interesting to witness how the Chiefs forwards will fare when they face Leopards defence that has shipped in league eight goals, the second-highest so far this season.
Black Leopards have four defeats and a victory in their campaign.
So serious has been their situation that they sacked Belgian coach Patrick Aussems after just three games that were all defeats.
Kerr’s return saw him starting with a win, before succumbing to Bloemfontein Celtic in their last match.
The last time the two side met in a PSL fixture was in January when they drew 1-1, with Nurkovic on target for Chiefs at Thohoyandou Stadium, while Mogakolodi Ngele scored for Leopards.
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