THANDA Royal Zulu are back in action at the uMhlathuze Stadium this Saturday in a must-win encounter.
This time they are again up against opponents from the Cape as they take on Vasco da Gama, who are currently just one point below them on the log.
Thanda will hope to emulate neighbours AmaZulu, who thrashed Vasco 4-1 at the Princess Magogo Stadium last Saturday.
The Amabhubesi are a mere four points off the bottom of the log but a win would see them back in the top ten in the topsy-turvy world of the National First Division.
In many ways it resembles the UK Premier League, where bottom teams are regularly beating top sides and then going down to lesser opposition.
Thanda’s record against the league’s top sides is excellent.
In this season’s first round they have beaten Witbank Spurs (4th) and Milano United (7th), and drawn with Mbombela United (3rd) and Royal Eagles (6th).
Add to that the narrow 1-0 loss last week to Cape Town All Stars (2nd) and one can only conclude they raise their game against better teams and get brought down to the level of inferior opponents.
Their obvious deficiency is lacking a striker to convert the many chances they create.
It’s all well and good playing pretty football, but someone needs to be a bit more selfish, take ownership and bang in the ball.
Thanda simply cannot afford to lose.
Kick-off is at 3.30pm.
