Pirates face Swaziland’s Leopards at home-away-from-home

In order to maintain their place at the top of Group B standings in the Caf Confederation Cup, it is likely Orlando Pirates will have to beat eSwatini’s Royal Leopards when the teams meet at the Mbombela Stadium tomorrow.

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At the moment, Pirates occupy top spot in the mini league table on goal-difference, but they are level with second placed Al-Ittihad of Libya and Algeria’s JS Saoura, while Leopards are in last place having not been able to register a point.

Bucs and Saoura have played two games, while Ittihad and Leopards have played one game each.

The Buccaneers began their Confed Cup campaign on a very positive note, beating the Algerians 2-0 at home, only to go down 3-2 against Itttihad in Libya, in a game where the Soweto giants gave their all and were just unfortunate to walk away without at least a point.

Right-winger Bandile Shandu scored twice for the Buccaneers, with the versatile player showing his importance in the squad to co-coaches Mandla Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids. 

Looking at their campaign in this competition last season at this stage, Pirates only lost one game against Nigerian club Enyimba, and they went on to qualify for the knockout stages only after finishing as runners-up to the Nigerians.

The Ittihad loss will surely not be something that will demoralise the Buccaneers, especially since it is still early in the tournament and they have to host the Libyan club.

Going into the clash against Leopards, the game is scheduled as an away fixture for Pirates, but since they will be playing at a ground they are familiar with, they will definitely be feeling at home. The eSwatini club couldn’t get a suitable venue for this clash as per Caf rules, hence they opted for Mbombela Stadium, which is over three hours’ drive from eSwatini.