Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has predicted a very tough fixture when they take on AmaZulu in a Premier Soccer League fixture on Monday night.
The Brazilians will put their unbeaten run at stake when they travel to face Usuthu at Jonsson Kings Park Stadium.
While Sundowns have won 13 matches and drawn four this season, Usuthu under former Bafana Bafana striker Benni McCarthy have won four, drawn 12, and lost two.
Sundowns’ Mngqithi has cautioned his players not to underrate their opponents insisting they are a very dangerous team, who will want to give it a fight when they clash.
'AmaZulu are still very dangerous team'
“To be honest with you, I think AmaZulu are still a very dangerous team,” Mngqithi told the club’s media department.
“And any team in their position is wounded.
“They always want to climb, they can see the number of points from each other, it’s very, very close. So whoever wins, takes others down, so they would want to give it a fight.”
BackpagepixMngqithi has also singled out some of the players in Usuthu’s playing unit, who have the quality to come up against any team in the top-flight.
“And they’ve got some quality players in [Luvuyo] Memela, [Lehlohonolo)] Majoro, [Bongi] Ntuli, [Andre] De Jong, and [Thembela] Sikhakhane’s adventurous nature of going forward makes them to be a team to tick, with [Keagan] Buchanan strong on set pieces,” Mngqithi continued.
“You can never take them for granted. And they still have [Thapelo] Xoki on set pieces, either on direct set pieces or with his headers.
'They are capable team to cause an upset'
“So they are very, very capable team to cause an upset, but be that as it may, they also have to worry about what Sundowns offers on the day.
“We believe we’ve got a team that is capable of upsetting anyone. But we can never make a mistake of thinking we are just going to walk over any opposition because at this time of the season.”
On which team will carry the day, Mngqithi explained: “It depends who is hungrier, who wants it more, and who is prepared to dig very deep in order to get what he wants, and make sure that he does not concede stupid goals and anxiety levels are controlled very well, to make sure that you hardly make mistakes that can be costly.
“So AmaZulu are going to give us a very, very serious match and we respect that, and we also have to play the match with the same respect and the same humility, and not think we are better than anyone else.”
In their last meeting, it was Sundowns who bagged maximum points after securing a 1-0 victory courtesy of Themba Zwane strike at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
