SuperSport United vs Mamelodi Sundowns – our predictions

Phakaaathi’s Jonty Mark and Khaya Ndubane give their views on who will triumph on the day, and why.

Why Sundowns will win (Jonty Mark, Phakaaathi Editor)

Mamelodi Sundowns could do with making a statement this weekend, when they take on SuperSport United in the Tshwane derby, a sizzling opener to both sides’ bid to lift the Absa Premiership title.

It does seem a bit ridiculous to talk of any problems at Pitso Mosimane’s side, when one considers that Sundowns are the reigning continental champions, in the quarterfinals of this year’s Champions League too, and were runners up in last year’s title race even though the amount of games they played in the season compared to the rest was absurd.

Yet there has been a bit of unrest, with star man Khama Billiat clearly wanting out and not at his best in the MTN8 quarterfinal defeat to Maritzburg United last weekend. Sundowns would do best to settle this matter as soon as possible, even if losing Billiat would be a blow.

The loss to the Team of Choice was also a surprise, and it does mean Sundowns’ season still needs a lift off. I think, however, that it will come against SuperSport, who were not entirely convincing even though they beat Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 last weekend.

Billiat may have his issues, but Sundowns still have squad throbbing with quality, which includes new signings George Lebese and Oupa Manyisa, who will have benefited from some game time against Maritzburg.

Sundowns also just seem to have the edge over SuperSport in this fixture – they have done the league double (home and away) over them for the past three seasons. SuperSport have a top class squad themselves, but I fully expect the Brazilians to bounce back on Saturday, and give Eric Tinkler the first defeat of his SuperSport reign.

Prediction: SuperSport 1 Sundowns 2

Why SuperSport will win (Khaya Ndubane, Online Content Manager)

Sundowns might have dominated this tie over the couple of seasons, but SuperSport have Eric Tinkler as the new coach this season. Tinkler took six points from Sundowns with his Cape Town City team last season.

Prior to joining The Citizens, Tinkler led Orlando Pirates to a 2-0 win over the Brazilians in the Nedbank Cup at the same Lucas Moripe Stadium. Overall, Tinkler has done well against Pitso Mosimane and the former Bafana Bafana midfielder could be the triumph card Matsatsantsa need to end Sundowns’ dominance over them.

Sundowns’ interest in SuperSport striker Jeremy Brockie has also added some spice to this weekend’s Tshwane derby. The New Zealander will want to send a statement to Sundowns that says, “Break the bank and come and get me”, by scoring the winning goal for SuperSport.

Prediction: SuperSport 1 Sundowns 0