Life on the road continues for Orlando Pirates who embark on a coastal voyage as they prepare to face off with Lamontville Golden Arrows in their Betway Premiership match set to be played at King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday.
The Buccaneers drop anchor in Durban for a few days ahead of two important matches in the coastal city.
Abafana Besthende are first up in a week that features two crucial games in both league and cup competition.
It’s a clash between two in-form sides, who will be renewing rivalries as they cross paths for the first time this season with the stage set for what could be an intense battle for three important league points.
Steadily collected points
Currently eighth in the standings, Abafana Besthende took a while to kick into gear this season but have steadily collected points over the past month.
They turned things around following a run of three consecutive defeats and immediately embarked on a successful run across competitions where they emerged on the winning side in five of their next six fixtures.
Their record since late September is only blighted by a solitary defeat, which occurred despite finding the net three times when they went down 4-3 away to Stellenbosch.
Heavy goal-hauls have been a feature of the Durbanites’ resurgence, and they go into Wednesday night’s clash having found the net 11 times in their last four league matches.
The most recent of these produced a 4-0 win in their favour when they thumped Marumo Gallants in a home clash played last Sunday afternoon.
It’s a result that helped maintain their dominant form in their backyard this season where they have won five of their six home games in the Betway Premiership, only failing to collect three points once via a narrow defeat to Kaizer Chiefs on match-day 5.
They now set their sights on Soweto giants once more as they go in search of a win that could take them as high as fourth in the league standings.
Bucs Team News
The match will be another challenging outing for Orlando Pirates, who are on the road for the second league game running.
They clinched a vital point on the weekend’s visit to Loftus Versfeld, where Cemran Dansin’s stunning first-half strike helped them walk off with a one-all result against log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
It was their first league stalemate in the ongoing campaign, bringing an end to an impressive run of six consecutive victories.
Most of their 19 Betway Premiership points have come at Orlando Stadium, but they’ve so far given a decent account of themselves on the road in overcoming defeat in their first away outing to accumulating two wins and a draw in their next three.
Now sitting in fourth place on the table with the potential to elevate themselves to the summit, the Buccaneers will be determined to continue their solid run in the league where they have now clinched points in each of their last seven matches.
There could be a reshuffling of the pack in a match that kicks off a busy week, with the likes of Relebohile Mofokeng and Simphiwe Selepe nearing a return after missing out on a fair bit of the action this season.
Head-to-Head
Results have gone one way in recent matches between Orlando Pirates and Golden Arrows, with the former enjoying a lengthy winning streak over their hosts.
The Buccaneers are currently on a run of six consecutive wins in this fixture, having picked up three league doubles back-to-back.
They remain unbeaten in their last eight matches against Abafana Besthende, who have had to be content with just two league points over the past four seasons .
It has been nearly five years since the Durban outfit managed maximum points against the Soweto giants, doing so via a shock 2-0 win at Princess Magogo Stadium back in the 2020/21 season.
TV Coverage and Ticket Info
Kick-off is at 19:30 with the game set to be broadcast live on SuperSport PSL.
Tickets are available for purchase online on OpenTickets and selected outlets nationwide.
Prediction
Golden Arrows 1-1 Orlando Pirates
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