There was some fighting talk from Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Lesiba Nku before today’s Premiership match against lowly Cape Town Spurs in Pretoria (7.30pm kick-off).
Since the match is between the Premiership’s No 1 team and the team that is stone last in the standings, it has the look of a David versus Goliath contest.
At least, that is how the speedy Nku views the contest at Loftus Versfeld.
“Spurs will be fighting for their lives and we will be fighting to win. We want to win every game,” said Nku, who has been mainly used off the bench in recent times.
He has been competing for a place in the run-on XI with the likes of Neo Maema, Gaston Sirino, Junior Mendieta, Lucas Ribeiro Costa, Thapelo Maseko, and Themba Zwane.
“We don’t look at the log and think this will be an easy game because the team is right at the bottom. We don’t care where the opposition is on the log because we know we have to fight to win every match.”
Whereas Sundowns have been playing virtually every third day, bottom-of-the-log Spurs have had a two-week break from PSL action. They head into the game on the back of a 3-0 loss to Stellenbosch in their most recent encounter last month.
Their coach Ernst Middendorp has been working on several aspects of their game and cited a lack of character and individual errors as the biggest negatives in the squad. With only one win to their name in the Premiership, the Urban Warriors remain one of the poorestperforming sides in South Africa’s top flight this season.
Spurs plummeted to an unprecedented 12 defeats in 13 games played so far while recording just one victory during this period.
The Urban Warriors’ only win of the 2023-24 campaign came against Orlando Pirates last month, as goals by Lubeni Huakongo and Jarrod Moroole inspired Spurs to a 2-1 victory at the DHL Stadium.
Midderndorp will be looking to record his first win back in South African football after suffering backto-back losses against Royal AM and Stellenbosch FC.
“We were not a unified team to show the character that we need to show when you want to stay in the Premiership,” said Middendorp.
“This is something I must address, probably a little bit deeper. Now you can see the character of the team is not the best.
“In the last 20 minutes, they looked demotivated and frustrated against Stellenbosch. We were not functional as a team at all.
“The two games we played were disappointing. The individual mistakes we were making are just frustrating.”
Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena will be looking for an improved performance after an insipid showing against Egyptian side Pyramids in the CAF Champions League 0-0 draw on Sunday.
“It was a difficult game because when you have to set the intensity and the tempo, you’re the only one responsible for that, it becomes very difficult,” said Mokwena.
“So, when the intensity is lacking, it’s a very difficult game to play, but okay, we take the point and we move on.”