The Premier Soccer League’s new DStv Premiership 2020/21 season will kick-off with the MTN8 quarterfinal matches on the weekend of 17 and 18 October with the premiership kicking off the following weekend.
Kicking off the MTN8 matches will be DStv Premiership rookies Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC who will lock horns with SuperSport United. The rookies arrived in the Premiership through the back door of the GladAfrica Championship after buying the status of Bidvest Wits.
This match will be played at the Thohoyandou Stadium in Venda, Limpopo at 3pm. The second match of the day will see defending champions Cape Town City clash with two-time champions Orlando Pirates, who last won the trophy when they successfully defended it in 2011.
This epic clash will be at the iconic Orlando Stadium which is the home of the Buccaneers at 6pm. Sunday will see a mouthwatering clash between Kaizer Chiefs and KwaZulu-Natal side Maritzburg United. The Soweto Glamour Boys come into this encounter under the tutelage of their new coach Gavin Hunt, who took over the captaincy of the ship from Ernst Middendorp. Under the stewardship of Middendorp, AmaKhosi were at the summit of the then Absa Premiership from the word go, only to lose it at the the last minute to a cunning Mamelodi Sundowns.
The champions had pulled the premiership rug from right under their feet, costing the German his job. It would be interesting to see how Hunt will conduct his hunt for silverware in his first match in charge of AmaKhosi. Hunt came to Chiefs following the demise of Bidvest Wits after the club owners sold their premiership status to new boys on the block, Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila, better known as TTM Pressure will be on Hunt to see what he brings to AmaKhosi who have gone six years without a trophy in their cabinet and frustrated fans appear to be drifting away slowly to uncharted waters.
This match kicks off at the FNB Stadium at 3pm. The Brazilians will close the MTN8 quarterfinal fixtures when they welcome Phunya Sele Sele, as Bloemfontein Celtic are fondly known to their avid fans, in the capital of the Free State. This match, which is a repeat of the Nedbank Cup final, will be more of a grudge game for Celtic who will be seeking to put one past the Masandawana outfit who dumped them from the ‘David versus Goliath’ cup final. It will be played at the Masandawana home of Lucas ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe Stadium at 6pm.
In line with Covid-19 regulations, all four matches will be played behind closed doors as the sports fields have not been opened to the public as yet.
