2023/24 DStv Premiership
Matchday 4
25-27 August 2023
SuperSport United and TS Galaxy will be looking to maintain their unbeaten starts to the
DStv Premiership season, while Kaizer Chiefs go in search of their first win.
Matchday 4 gets underway on the evening of Friday, August 25 as Cape Town Spurs attempt to get their campaign up and running against Chippa United at Athlone Stadium.
The Urban Warriors (16th) have yet to pick up any points since gaining promotion, with a 3-1 defeat at Polokwane City on August 19 extending their winless run to three games. The Chilli Boys (12th) suffered their first loss of 2023-24 when they were beaten 2-0 by defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns on the same day.
Kaizer Chiefs will be desperate for maximum points when they welcome AmaZulu to the FNB Stadium on Saturday, August 26.
The Glamour Boys (13th) remain winless under Molefi Ntseki after slipping to a 1-0 defeat against TS Galaxy in Mbombela on August 20, having also lost 2-1 at Sundowns 11 days earlier. Usuthu (11th) have drawn their first three matches under Pablo Franco Martin and are one of only four teams still unbeaten in the league.
Ntseki admits their performances in the first three games have been a mixed bag and feels a lack of cutting edge in front of goal contributed to the loss against the Rockets.
"I think there have been up and downs. It has been hot and cold," he said. "If you look at the first game we played, and then we had to play the second... in the first half we were not as sharp as we wanted to be [in the first two games].
"In the last game we played [against Cape Town City] we were spot on in terms of our plan and its execution. If you look at today and how we started, we were a bit shaky because we were not on the ball as we love to.
"But after 15 minutes you could see us playing more of a possession game. It's just unfortunate that the few chances we got, mainly in the first half, we could not bury [them]."
Elsewhere around the country, Golden Arrows host newcomers Polokwane City at the Mpumalanga Stadium and Stellenbosch lock horns with SuperSport United at the Danie Craven Stadium.
Abafana Bes'thende (9th) suffered their first defeat of the season when they were thumped 4-0 by Sundowns on August 15, while Rise And Shine (4th) recorded back-to-back wins against Stellies and Spurs.
Meanwhile, the Maroons (5th) bounced back from the setback against Polokwane with a 3-1 victory over Royal AM on August 18 and Matsatsantsa (2nd) halted Cape Town City's perfect record with a narrow 1-0 success that same evening.
Alamy Stock Photo
SuperSport head coach Gavin Hunt lamented the fact that they are a selling club, which means that he's had to rebuild the squad again in the off-season after losing several of his first-team players.
"We lost about nine players and we are trying to build the team again. We have two loan players and the rest are ours not for a change. We can try and build it but you know what happens with our club," Hunt said.
"We build every year, if could keep the ones we had last year and the year before we will have a very good team but it doesn't work like that."
The weekend's action concludes with a clash between Royal AM and TS Galaxy at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Sunday, August 27.
Thwihli Thwahla's struggles from last term continued as the loss to Stellenbosch extended their winless run in the league to eight matches stretching back to April 22. Galaxy (3rd) are flying high after the triumph over Chiefs saw them go three games undefeated in the new campaign.
DStv Premiership matchday 4 fixtures:
Friday, August 25
19h30: Cape Town Spurs v Chippa United
Saturday, August 26
15h00: Golden Arrows v Polokwane City
17h30: Kaizer Chiefs v AmaZulu
20h00: Stellenbosch v SuperSport United
Sunday, August 27
15h00: Royal AM v TS Galaxy
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