JOHANNESBURG – Kaizer Chiefs will be determined to get back on to the winning trail when they take on Supersport United in a Telkom Knockout quarterfinal match at the Moses Mabidha Stadium in Durban on Saturday evening.
Chiefs have to look back to the 2014 MTN 8 final for the last time that they were able to lift major silverware and last weekend's 2-1 reverse to Orlando Pirates in the Soweto Derby league fixture will not have helped matters in terms of confidence.
After from a 4-2 win on penalties over Black Leopards in the previous round of the cup, Chiefs have lost 2 and drawn 1 of their last 3 league outings.
The fact that the Amakhosi have not beaten Supersport in their last 8 clashes will not help either, but there is good news in that the Tshwane-based club's striker Bradley Grobler will not be a part of the action due to injury.
Kaizer Chiefs players during a training session on Wednesday. Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
Grobler has a habit of scoring against Chiefs and Pirates having found the net nine times against the Soweto glamour club.
Supersport pipped Polokwane City 2-1 in the previous round and haven't been their fluent self this season. This is already an improvement on their 2017 run in their cup where they were beaten on penalties by eventual finalists Bloemfontein Celtic in the first round.
Proof of this is in the manner in which they surrendered a 1-0 lead to draw 1-all with Golden Arrows in league action last weekend. In-fact, Supersport have drawn 3 and lost 1 of their last 4 league games.
For Chiefs to win, their defence will need to up their game while on the attack, more support will need to be given to their inspirational Zimbabwean midfielder Khama Billiat, who is expected to be well marked by Supersport.