Cape Town - After having their unbeaten run in the Caf Confederation Cup broken, Orlando Pirates will be looking to bounce back to winning ways when they clash with CS Sfaxien in their third game of the group stage at Stade Taieb Mhiri in Sfax, Tunisia, on Sunday.
The Buccaneers lost their first group game in the continental competition 2-1 to Egyptian giants Zamalek at Mbombela Stadium, with the loss placing Eric Tinkler’s team second in Group B’s mini-league table with three points.
The Egyptians top the group with six points, followed by AC Leopards and Sfaxien, with one point each, lying third and fourth respectively.
The Buccaneers will have to put on their scoring boots if they wish to claim the three points on offer.
This especially after fumbling in their match against Zamalek, which they dominated, more especially in the first half, only to let the White Knights come back from a goal down to win it in the second period.
Although there is so much flair at Pirates, however, converting goal-scoring chances seems to be a perennial problem.
Tinkler will consider starting with Lehlohonolo Majoro and Thamsanqa Gabuza for this encounter after the pair impressed at Mbombela.
Gabuza has been in blistering form lately, scoring for Bafana Bafana and his club team, while Majoro came off the bench to give Pirates the lead in the Zamalek game.
Majoro must be raring for more game time so he can get the ball in the back of the net.
With Sifiso Myeni and Thabo Rakhale mesmerising on both flanks, while captain Oupa Manyisa takes control of the midfield at Sfax as he did at Mbombela, we will see more chances created.
Sfaxien, on the other hand, are no pushovers.
The north African team are three-time Confederation Cup champions and have a lot of experience when it comes to playing in competitions of this magnitude. However, they are yet to get maximum points since the group stages started. They lost their first game 1-0 to Zamalek and drew 1-1 with Leopards.
And Sunday’s match is probably one of the most important matches for them if they are to make an impact in the competition. The two sides have good knowledge of each other having met in the 2006 Caf Champions League, where Sfaxien won 1-0 at home, after holding Pirates to a goalless draw in the first leg.
The Buccaneers flew to Tunisia on Thursday.
This is one encounter that promises to be electrifying, with both teams desperate for maximum points.
Weekend Argus