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DStv Premiership
Round 24
23-25 April 2021
South Africa’s DStv Premiership will see Round 24 played across the weekend of 23-25 April, headlined by a clash between heavyweights Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday.
While the teams were neck and neck through most of last season, with ‘Downs sneaking the title on the final day, this time around the Tshwane club has been the dominant force, opening up a strong lead at the top of the log at the same time that the Amakhosi have stumbled.
Nonetheless, the Soweto side has shown signs of improvement both domestically and in the CAF Champions League in recent weeks, and they will fancy their chances of avenging a 3-0 defeat from the teams’ last league meeting back in October 2020.
“The players have done well - in fact they’ve been great,” said coach Gavin Hunt, who added that his team have been unlucky to be denied several strong penalty appeals in recent outings. “Two games or three games in a row now we have been getting in those situations [of being denied penalty decisions] and it’s been blatant. It’s so disappointing that‚ because that gives you a lot of the momentum [if you get those decisions].”
The weekend opens with Maritzburg United looking to bounce back to winning form and continue their battle against relegation when they host Baroka FC, while the pick of Saturday’s games is the ‘original’ Soweto derby between Swallows FC and Orlando Pirates at Dobsonville Stadium.
The Buccaneers will be aiming to build on their weekend win over Maritzburg: “The result was important for us after the Sundowns game [4-1 loss in the Nedbank Cup]. We know we have a lot of tired players. We are happy about the result and we are looking forward to our next game,” said coach Josef Zinnbauer.
The weekend also sees AmaZulu hosting TS Galaxy, Bloemfontein Celtic visiting Stellenbosch, Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila looking to boost their survival hopes with a trip to Cape Town City, and Chippa United aiming for a home win when they welcome Golden Arrows to the Eastern Cape.
DStv Premiership fixtures, 23-25 April
Friday 23 April
17:00: Maritzburg United v Baroka FC
Saturday 24 April
15:00: Stellenbosch FC v Bloemfontein Celtic
15:00: Black Leopards v SuperSport United
17:00: Swallows FC v Orlando Pirates
17:00: AmaZulu v TS Galaxy
17:00: Cape Town City v Tshakhuma TM
Sunday 25 April
15:00: Mamelodi Sundowns v Kaizer Chiefs
15:00: Chippa United v Golden Arrows