Sundowns’ Mngqithi expecting open game against AS FAR

Following the goalless draw at home to AS Maniema Union in their Caf Champions League group stage opener, Mamelodi Sundowns are targeting maximum points in Morocco when they confront AS FAR in their backyard on Saturday night.

Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi made a bold prediction after the frustrating stalemate against Maniema that his side will collect points on the road.

The Brazilians will be up against a motivated AS FAR team that opened their group stage campaign of Africa’s premier club competition with a 2-0 win over Botola Pro League rivals Raja Casablanca.

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Maniema sat back against Masandawana to pick up a valuable away point at Loftus Versfeld a week ago. However, Mngqithi is expecting a more open game against the North Africans who will be looking to cause yet another upset in Group B.

“We’re playing against a very good team in Morocco. AS FAR has really done well over the past three seasons when you look at it very closely. It will be interesting to see how they’ll want to play us because we have a nice approach for matches like this and I think that’s where we’re stronger,” Mngqithi said.

“It’s always going to be difficult when you’re playing against teams that will resist and allow the game to flow by sitting in but North Africans don’t normally have that mentality. They want to come at you, they believe they’ve got a chance to beat you at their home ground because they possess different energies away and home.

“At home they are ultra-motivated to come at you and get goals but away from their supporters, they’re usually very timid and they’ll want to sit back and try to look for counter-attacks so it’s very important to understand the dynamics of how we should approach this game. The good thing is that I’ve been following them to try and see what they possess compared to us and I think it will be an interesting match.”

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Getting three points away from Tshwane will be a morale booster for the 2016 champions who will next play Raja at home on December 15.

The top two teams from this group will advance to the quarterfinals of the CAF Champions League and Sundowns can ill-afford to drop more points if they want to reach the knockout phase.