I’ve been warning anybody who’ll listen that Stellenbosch is not a team to play with this term and champions Mamelodi Sundowns will have to ken their storie today at Loftus Versfeld at 5pm if they are to down Steve Barker’s manne .
Stellies might only have one win in four matches heading into the clash against the defending champions, but they’ve had a testing run of matches to date.
The men from the Winelands began the season with the long trip from Boland to visit Marumo Gallants at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
They came back Danie Craven with a point secured from a goalless draw, and hosted Orlando Pirates and Royal AM to make that a total of three matches in seven days.
They held Pirates to a 1-1 draw and were at their devastating best against Royal AM, with a solid 3-1 victory.
They then fought back to grab a draw in the derby against Cape Town City, with Junior Mendieta scoring the equaliser to earn the Winelands ouens a point.
The Argentinian scored in similar fashion that he did against Pirates, meeting Fawaaz Basadien’s cross after lurking on the far post on both occasions.
And now with a visit trip to Mamelodi Sundowns, Mendieta and Basadien will need to come up with more big plays and prove that last season’s 3-0 win over the eventual champions was no fluke.
You ouens might assume that the 3-0 victory for Stellies was in Stellenbosch, no my man, it was right there in Tshwane.
Sundowns are probably still the overwhelming favourite to win the league title with their Caf obligations said to be the priority.
It’s still so early in the campaign and we’ve already seen the different sides of Sundowns, they are lethal when on song but beatable.
They were convincing against City in the season opener here at Cape Town Stadium, however, they then went on to lose 1-0 against TS Galaxy and then drew 1-1 away at Sekhukhune United.
From what I’ve seen thus far, Barker will do well to unleash the fearless Antonio Van Wyk on the exposed Sundowns defence.
Stellies’ schedule will not get any easier with a visit from Chiefs in the MTN 8 quarterfinals set for Sunday.
And this should be a big focus for the club.
They need a trophy, with the MTN8 being the shortest route to the champions’ podium. This tournament has seen a many first-time champions over the years.
Stellies did the double against Chiefs last season, so they know a little something or two about slaying giants since they arrived on the scene those four years ago.
The break in league action, meanwhile, couldn’t have come at a better time for Cape Town City as they need to regroup following a disappointing start to the season.
The cup could be the type of renewed energy they need injected into the side that is still looking for a win in the new campaign.
Everyone was talking about the increased ticket prices for last night’s match between City and Kaizer Chiefs, but what matters is that the Citizens need results now.
This Saturday’s MTN8 match against AmaZulu could be exactly the type match they need to give their campaign an extra boost.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za