Mamelodi Sundowns have an advantage over Orlando Pirates - Vilakazi

Former South Africa midfielder Benedict Vilakazi believes Mamelodi Sundowns will have an edge over Orlando Pirates because of last Saturday’s Nedbank Cup semi-final match against Bidvest Wits which prepared them for the Premier Soccer League (PSL) task against the Soweto giants.

Pirates are yet to play a game since the restart of football in South Africa and have been doing their business quietly away from the public glare.

Now they are set for a showdown against Sundowns who stormed into the Nedbank Cup final following a 3-2 victory over Wits and will be playing their second match after football returned.

“Looking at this match‚ I will say that Sundowns have a slight advantage,” said Vilakazi as per Sowetan Live.

“I am saying this because they have already played one full Cup game‚ which tested them‚ while Pirates have not been tested in a similar situation. With this Covid-19‚ teams were not able to play friendly matches and coaches could not test their players. This may work against Pirates.

“Of course this does not mean that Sundowns are going to win this game for sure because if you are a Pirates player‚ you don’t need to be motivated when you are going to play against Sundowns. The rivalry is too much and players will want to dig deep to ensure that they come on top.

“We don’t know what Pirates have been doing behind the scenes at their training ground and this is what is going to make this game intriguing for the fans and difficult for both teams.”

Second-placed Sundowns will be resuming their Premier Soccer League (PSL) title challenge as they seek to catch leaders Kaizer Chiefs who have a four-point lead and have played a game more than Downs.

For fourth-placed Pirates, they would be continuing their campaign whose most realistic finish would be third place.

Vilakazi who played for both teams, however, feels that while Sundowns received match practice against Wits, Pirates could plot a victory for Tuesday’s showdown by taking notes from what they watched of Downs on Saturday.

"I am sure that the Pirates coaches and players watched the match between Sundowns and Wits on Saturday and they picked up a few things,” Vilakazi said.

"What I saw from that match is that the two teams were struggling towards the end of the match in terms of fitness. The one thing that I think could work for Pirates is building mental strength because if you are strong mentally you are able to respond to tough situations.

"They will only know once the match has started how they are physically and there is very little they can do about it by then.”

After Tuesday’s match, it would be Chiefs’ turn to roll into action on Wednesday as they face a tested Wits side which stretched and frustrated Sundowns for the better part of last Saturday’s encounter.