November is derby month in the DStv Premiership with bragging rights, and three previous points, on the line in four tantalising matchups, starting this weekend with the biggest of them all. Kaizer Chiefs host bitter rivals Orlando Pirates in the Soweto Derby on Saturday with both sides having endured a downturn in form of late and in desperate need of a pick-me-up.
It is exceedingly rare that both go into Derby week in the bottom half of the league table, but that is where they find themselves after a turbulent start to the campaign.
For new Chiefs coach Cavin Johnson it is a chance to win over the AmaKhosi faithful early in his reign, and he will certainly not be afraid of bold selections and tactics to pile the pressure on Pirates.
He has, however, won only three of 18 previous meetings with The Buccaneers for his various clubs down the years, so they are not a favoured opponent.
Pirates’ Spanish coach Jose Riveiro is feeling the heat after his side were knocked out of the Carling Knockout by lowly Richards Bay this past weekend, and the side lie in an unfamiliar 13th place in the league table.
Riveiro could do no wrong as he led the team to a CAF Champions League place last season and claimed successive MTN8 titles to go with the Nedbank Cup at the end of the last campaign.
But as his side battle in front of goal – they have scored only five times in their last 10 games – he needs to find solutions to get them firing again.
Pirates broke a run of five successive Chiefs wins in the Derby when they claimed a 2-1 extra-time success in the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup last season, but their previous win in an away league fixture against Chiefs was all the way back in 2015.
There will be another Soweto Derby on November 26 when Moroka Swallows host Chiefs, as coach Steve Komphela plots the downfall of his former side.
Komphela has transformed The Birds this season with four wins and two draws from their eight DStv Premiership matches. If they win their two games in hand they could rise as high as third in the table.
They have been boosted by the form of former Pirates striker Tshegofatso Mabasa, who leads the Golden Boot race with six goals in seven starts this term, and he would love to bury Chiefs having not managed to score in the ‘other’ Soweto Derby.
Both teams won 2-1 away last season, and Swallows have done well against Chiefs since their elevation back into the elite league. The six meetings have seen two wins each and two draws.
There will also be a provincial derby in the Western Cape when Cape Town Spurs host Stellenbosch FC on November 28.
The two teams’ stadiums are about a 45-minute drive apart, but this will have the edge of a local rivalry as Spurs desperately seek points to see them out of the relegation zone. The two sides have met only twice before, when both campaigned in the second tier in the 2018-19 season. Each claimed a home win.
On the same day there is another huge clash as SuperSport United welcome Tshwane Derby rivals Mamelodi Sundowns.
These two usually serve up a spectacle and with SuperSport breathing down The Brazilians’ neck at the top of the table, this is a huge chance to gain some advantage in the title race – for either side.
Sundowns have generally been the dominant force in this fixture in recent times, with pockets of SuperSport success, though the latter are the last team to inflict a league defeat on their rivals.
Since SuperSport won 2-1 on September 2, 2022, Sundowns have gone an astonishing 32 games unbeaten in the DStv Premiership (W26 D6). There has never been a side as dominant in the local league.
That being said, this fixture will be a first in the DStv Premiership for Sundowns in almost exactly two months after all their cup exploits and the Fifa International windows.
They are looking to maintain their perfect start to the new season that has seen them win all eight league games.
Source: sabc
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