Striker-less Chiefs will look for an early goal in Guinea 

Kaizer Chiefs will be without their main strikers yet again when they meet Horoya AC in their last Group C match of the Caf Champions League in Guinea on Saturday evening – the game kicks off at 9pm.

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With Samir Nurkovic suspended, and Leonardo Castro out with an injury, coach Gavin Hunt says he will have to make a plan because they need to score first.

Amakhosi need to get a score draw or win the match to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition as they are tied on eight points with Horoya, who are a place above them on goal difference.

A score draw will be enough because Chiefs played out a goalless draw in their home match against Horoya, meaning according to Caf rules, they would win on the head-to-head with the Guinean team, in the case of a 1-1 or a 2-2 in Guinea.

“Both our strikers are not here, which is a big blow,” said Hunt. “We don’t have a No. 9, so we will have to make a plan with

Castro being out and Nurkovic not here. In these types of conditions you need a No. 9, but anyway, we have to make a plan. We will have to try play around that, maybe change the shape a little bit.

“The plan is that if we get an early that can put them under pressure because then they would have to score two. A score draw looks the obvious way to go but football doesn’t work like that. This team have not been beaten here for a long time, but we have to try and score a goal (first), that’s the most important thing,” added the 56-year-old mentor.

Guinea is known for its heat and humidity at this time of the year, but Hunt is not worried about it as they will play the game at night.

“Thank goodness it’s a 7pm (9pm in RSA time) kick-off, if it had been in the middle of the day it would (be difficult)… both sides would struggle. But we are playing at 7pm, the humidity will still be high but that’s okay.”

Sibongiseni Gumbi