With a few of the teams on continental duty this weekend, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs will look to put pressure on the frontrunners in the
DStv Premiership.
The action gets underway on Friday evening as SuperSport United welcome Sekhukhune United to the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium.
Matsatsantsa returned to winnings ways on Tuesday when they beat Royal AM 3-1 in Pretoria to climb up to third in the league standings. Babina Noko halted a six-match winless run with a surprise 2-0 victory over Orlando Pirates on Wednesday, which saw them rise up to 11th place.
Pirates will attempt to get their title challenge back on track when they welcome high-flying Richards Bay to the Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
The Buccaneers weren't at their best against Sekhukhune and slumped to their third defeat of the campaign to remain five points behind Sundowns in fourth position. The Natal Rich Boyz clinched a dramatic 1-0 win over AmaZulu on Wednesday to close within two points of the Brazilians in second spot.
Richard Ofori was at fault for the second goal, although Amabhakabhaka head coach Jose Riveiro refused to blame his goalkeeper as they were chasing the game after being reduced to 10 men on 58 minutes following the dismissal of Thabiso Monyane.
"We were disorganised on the field, looking to at least get one point and the players were tired because we played a lot of minutes with one man down and it's normal to commit a mistake and we committed more than one, the opponent scored the second goal," Riveiro said.
"We didn't play badly in the first 15, 20 minutes ... we had it pretty much under control but towards the end of the first half we were not playing the way we wanted to for different reasons.
"Just before the red card I think we were close to take the lead and at that moment we had a feeling that the situation was under control as we were playing closer to their box."
Elsewhere, TS Galaxy will be desperate to arrest a six-match winless run when rock-bottom Swallows visit the Mbombela Stadium.
The Rockets made a promising start to proceedings after going undefeated in the first five league encounters, which included a shock 1-0 win over Masandawana, but a 1-0 reverse to struggling Marumo Gallants on Tuesday has left them just one point above the bottom two in 14th place.
The Dube Birds are rooted to the foot of the table after losing their last three matches and they parted ways with head coach Dylan Kerr during the international break following the heavy 4-0 defeat to Golden Arrows last month.
Meanwhile, Kaizer Chiefs will looking to build on their fourth win of the season when they make the long journey to Cape Town for a clash with Stellenbosch on Sunday.
Amakhosi made it-back-to-back victories when they edged Soweto rivals Swallows 2-1 on Wednesday to move up to fifth spot, level with Pirates on 14 points. The Maroons are made big gains in the standings after a 3-0 triumph over Maritzburg United lifted them up to sixth position.
Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has stressed the importance of picking up wins even when they don't play particularly well and believes they are on an upward curve now.
"We really want to be close to the teams up there," Zwane said after their derby success. "Football is unpredictable. You never know, we might have started the way we did and we might finish on a high.
"That'll be a chance for us to capitalise. There are no easy games, not only for us, but for other teams as well. And that's why it's very key for us to find ways of winning games [at all times].
"There is a light under the dark tunnel - something is happening. It might take time but what's key, even when we have bad days, we have to grind results."
Weekend DStv Premiership fixtures
Friday:
19h30: SuperSport United v Sekhukhune United
Saturday:
15h30: TS Galaxy v Swallows
20h00: Orlando Pirates v Richards Bay
Sunday:
15h30: Stellenbosch v Kaizer Chiefs
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