The final Betway Premiership matchday before the September international break will see the focus fall on co-leaders Sekhukhune United and Kaizer Chiefs, while champions Mamelodi Sundowns face a potential \u2018banana skin\u2019 away to Stellenbosch FC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sekhukhune and Chiefs both saw their 100 percent starts to the league campaign fall away on Wednesday evening with respective draws against AmaZulu FC (1-1) and Sundowns (0-0), but they have nonetheless been impressive through the course of this month, and both will be hungry to go into the break sitting in pole position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Amakhosi will be away to Golden Arrows at the Moses Mabhida Stadium late on Saturday afternoon, while Babina Noko will welcome unbeaten Durban City to the Peter Mokaba Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi \u2013 returning to the team after attending to family matters back in Tunisia \u2013 is optimistic about the progress made by his team at the start of this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, we have not lost yet, but we believe [against Sundowns] we could have got more,\u201d Nabi explained. \u201cWe appreciate that we are going in the right direction and we are going to work better for the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sundowns, meanwhile, will face Stellenbosch FC at Athlone Stadium earlier on Saturday. The Cape Winelands team is in good shape after following up their MTN8 semifinal triumph over Sekhukhune with a midweek league win over Marumo Gallants, and coach Steve Barker is quietly confident of getting a result against the reigning champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is an opportunity, it is at home, you know, it’s important for us to be winning our home matches and getting maximum points,\u201d said the Stellies coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe’ve got to go there with confidence and we’ve got to go there with belief and just play to our strengths and our abilities and obviously be careful of what they do offer. But yeah, they have to sort their own things out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saturday also features Magesi FC chasing a first win when they host AmaZulu, and Orbit College welcoming an in-form TS Galaxy (two straight wins, with six goals scored) to the Dobsonville Stadium for what should be their last \u2018home\u2019 match in Soweto before returning to the Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg from September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The weekend opener arrives on Friday evening in Bloemfontein, as Siwelele FC host Richards Bay and look to bounce back from a hat-trick of league defeats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday sees Orlando Pirates chasing a third successive league win when they face bottom-of-the-log Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, while Marumo Gallants will look to avoid a hat-trick of defeats when they host Polokwane City at the Dr Molemela Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Buccaneers\u2019 coach, Abdeslam Ouaddou, is hoping to see his side build further momentum when they head to the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe target is to have a consistent Pirates team \u2013 in both halves,\u201d said Ouaddou, whose team shrugged off a sloppy first 45 minutes to defeat Orbit College in midweek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, that will become very important if we want to reach the top part of the log. We need more consistency in terms of dominating the opponent. We need to control the game better, be more offensive, and unsettle the opponent in their own half.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Betway Premiership weekend fixtures<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Times CAT<\/p>\n\n\n\n Friday 29 August<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 19:30: Siwelele FC v Richards Bay<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saturday 30 August<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 15:00: Magesi FC v AmaZulu FC<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15:00: Stellenbosch FC v Mamelodi Sundowns<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17:30: Golden Arrows v Kaizer Chiefs<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17:30: Sekhukhune United v Durban City<\/p>\n\n\n\n 20:00: Orbit College v TS Galaxy<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sunday 31 August<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 15:00: Chippa United v Orlando Pirates<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15:00: Marumo Gallants v Polokwane City<\/p>\n\n\n\n BackpageTXT<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The final Betway Premiership matchday before the September international break will see the focus fall on co-leaders Sekhukhune United and Kaizer Chiefs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[55,57,61],"class_list":["post-634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-betway-premiership","tag-kaizer-chiefs","tag-sekhukhune-united"],"yoast_head":"\n