Cape Town City vs Orlando Pirates: Kick-off, TV channel, live score, squad news and preview

Orlando Pirates could move up to third on the PSL with a win over Cape Town City in a league match which is set to take place on Sunday afternoon. 

The Buccaneers were overtaken by both SuperSport United and Bidvest Wits this week after drawing their previous match. 

They are a point behind the two teams but have played a game more than Josef Zinnbauer's men.       

TV Channel, Live Score & How To Watch

The match will be screened live on SABC 1 and SuperSport TV in South Africa.

Squads & Team News 

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Cape Town City have not had any of their players testing positive for Covid-19 and they head into this clash with a clean bill of health.

Thamsanqa Mkhize was rested for precautionary reasons in the previous match against Mamelodi Sundowns but was introduced in the second half.

He's expected to start against the Buccaneers with Jan Olde Riekerink set to keep the same starting line-up that did the job since the return of football.  

Kermit Erasmus is one player everyone will be keeping an eye on after netting twice in his last three competitive matches. 

He has scored 10 league goals so far this season and with Gabandinho Mhango struggling for form, the striker would fancy his chances of catching him up. 

Peter Leeuwenburgh is another player expected to play a huge role in keeping Bucs at bay on the day after doing ever so well for himself since arriving in South Africa.

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The Buccaneers have seen the return of Thembinkosi Lorch after his suspension two weeks ago.

The attacker returned in Pirates' midweek match but didn't have much of an impact after coming on as a second-half substitute. 

After struggling to score since the return of football, Zinnbauer had to make changes to his striking department against Baroka with Tshegofatso Mabasa finding the back of the net in the 1-1 draw in midweek. 

Now, it remains to be seen if Mabasa will start for this encounter with Mhango playing a much deeper role to ease the pressure on him. 

And Lorch's return is seen a massive boost to the Soweto giants' chances of returning to Africa. 

While they are still mathematically in the race, chances of them winning the league are very slim as Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns are considered strong contenders. 

Match Preview

In head-to-head stats, Cape Town City have not been as dominant as the majority have thought. 

There have been three draws while City won just twice against the Buccaneers while Zinnbauer's men have won three times in the two teams' all-time meetings. 

The last time these two teams met, Pirates and City played to a thrilling 3-3 draw at Orlando Stadium. 

That was soon after two consecutive 2-2 draws against each other, meaning both teams don't have goalscoring problems and attack each other every time they clash.