Mamelodi Sundowns players with Pitso Mosimane, August 2020Backpagepix

Will seven injuries have impact on Mamelodi Sundowns' title chase?

After weeks and months of trying to dethrone Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns suffered a major setback in their efforts to topple their title rivals with seven of their key players nursing injuries. 

On Tuesday, the Brazilians confirmed injuries to Sibusiso Vilakazi, Gaston Sirino, Andile Jali, Phakamani Mahlambi, Mosa Lebusa, Rivaldo Coetzee and Denis Onyango. 

Onyango has already missed a few of his team's previous games and this was believed to be a tactical move by Pitso Mosimane as his No.1 wasn't at his best and the team was struggling for positive results. 

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Coetzee is on the comeback but it's unclear at this stage if he's going to be fit enough to at least play a role in the remaining matches of the season. 

Nonetheless, the question on everyone's lips is whether or not having these stars out will have any impact on Sundowns and their dream to win the league title this season. 

And the answer is yes - this is a massive blow to their title race because the majority of these players have contributed immensely to their success thus far.  

Pitso Mosimane of Mamelodi SundownsMamelodi Sundowns

While a section of football still believe that Sundowns will lose the championship to Amakhosi, Mosimane has retained the faith and made it clear that his team will fight until it is mathematically impossible for them to win the league. 

But not having these stars will make things even more difficult for Sundowns.

Looking back to the first few games when Sundowns played without Sirino, one could see that they were missing him. 

He's the kind of player who doesn't only score goals for the team but he creates goals for his teammates and there's always a chance that Sundowns would score whenever he's on the pitch. 

The same can be said about Vilakazi, who, despite not being at his best since the return of football, offers Sundowns a different dimension upfront whenever he's on the pitch. 

The duo have formed a solid attacking partnership with Themba Zwane, and not having them around could see the Sundowns leading goalscorer disappear - and this is not the right time as the team needs him more in terms of scoring goals. 

Sundowns may have a huge squad full of experienced players with quality, and youngsters with huge potential to become stars in the future, but Mosimane still needs his tried and tested to finish this season so that they can start over on a clean slate ahead of next season. 

Andile Jali and Pitso Mosimane, Mamelodi Sundowns, January 2020BackpagePix

Jali's injury can also be classified as a setback, more so because some fans called for his return to the starting line-up and Mosimane made it possible after his stellar performances before the lockdown. 

Sundowns have Tiyani Mabunda available but with a few complaints from the same fans over the displays of Hlompho Kekana in recent matches, perhaps Mosimane would have had options to rotate his squad better. 

And with uncertainties around Coetzee's return, this could mean Mosimane may be forced to finish the season with an overworked Kekana and a rather unfit Mabunda as he hasn't been a regular and actually lost his spot to Jali at the start of the season. 

The goalkeeping department is covered with experience but should anything happen to Kennedy Mweene - be it injury or suspension - before Onyango returns then it could prove detrimental because Reyaad Pieterse isn't anywhere close to the level of his two colleagues and is already contemplating his future at the club. 

Lebusa's injury isn't something that should worry Mosimane much, especially with Ricardo Nascimento returning from suspension and Wayne Arendse also on the bench as a back-up. 

But overall, losing seven players to injury isn't an easy thing to deal with and it has added more pressure on Mosimane and his technical team as they now have to approach the remaining matches of the season differently.

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