DURBAN - Going by the results of Orlando Pirates and Maritzburg United over the last few seasons many supporters would be surprised to find these sides contending for the top spot in the Absa Premiership.
That’s the scenario heading into Friday night's fourth round of league action. The winner between Maritzburg and Pirates at Harry Gwala Stadium will sit at the summit come the end of the weekend’s full programme.
While it is early days in the league marathon, the sight of Pirates atop the standings would raise eyebrows after their miserable 11th place finish last term.
The Team of Choice on the other hand enjoyed their highest finish of seventh place in 2016/17, and are enjoying the momentum of that display, although the previous season they avoided relegation on the final day.
Maritzburg go into this game after getting knocked out of the MTN8 in the semi-final second leg last weekend, followed by Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw in the KwaZulu-Natal derby against AmaZulu.
“I will have to probably make eight to nine changes against Pirates to refresh the squad because we had three games in six days before the Fifa break and now three in six days again,” said Maritzburg coach Fadlu Davids.
“We can’t play with the same team every week. We have to freshen things up and go with a new set of players. We’ve got fantastic boys in the Diski side and definitely some of them will come into the Pirates game.”
For the midweek outing Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Ofori made his PSL debut, and chances are he will retain his jersey after Davids expressed satisfaction with the “presence” and “leadership” provided.
Despite their bright start Davids was disappointed with their cup exit and the dropped points in Durban, situations he was confident the young squad will learn from.
“I’m really disappointed to throw away the two points in the 88th minute (against AmaZulu), but it’s lessons we have to learn. It’s a hard lesson for our young team to take. But how do you gain experience as young players? By making mistakes, hopefully learning from it and not making the same mistakes again.
☠Safe touchdown for the Bucs in KZN this afternoon 🛬 #AbsaPrem #ONCEALWAYS pic.twitter.com/wl9ZyTFwPD
— Orlando Pirates FC (@orlandopirates) September 14, 2017
“You have to teach them, coach them, show them on the video, on the training ground, tactical, attacking situations and movements, defensive structures. It’s a process, they will learn game by game, from every experience they will learn and get better.”
If the expected changes work well, then Davids expects the team to maintain their high tempo style against the Buccaneers on Friday. Besides the positive form, Maritzburg enjoy a good home record over Bucs. They are unbeaten against Pirates in their last three clashes in the Midlands.