After a two-week break, teams campaigning in the Motsepe Foundation Championship will be back in action this weekend.
Malamulele Stadium will be the centre of attention on Saturday afternoon when Gomora United host Black Leopards. Unlike Gomora United, whose target is to finish their league campaign among the top eight teams, the match will be a matter of life and death for Black Leopards.
Gomora are in 12th position with 19 points, while Lidoda Duvha are rooted at the bottom of the log with 12 points. Black Leopards and Gomora played to a 2-2 draw in their first-round league match at Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday, 6 December last year.
Black Leopards will have to keep a close eye on their former striker, Tiklas Thutlwa, to avoid a repeat of what happened in the first-round match. Thutlwa scored Gomora’s opening goal and assisted in their equaliser.
The head coach of Black Leopards, Mabhuti Khenyeza, is confident that his team will emerge victorious on Saturday. When expressing his optimism, Khenyeza said that they were going into the match with one thing in mind, to collect the maximum points at stake.
He revealed that they had played several friendly matches against Betway Premiership sides and their Motsepe Foundation Championship counterparts over the past 12 days to improve the players’ fitness levels. He added that he will have a full squad to choose from on Saturday as all the players have a clean bill of health.
Containing the Leopards’ attacking duo, Mwape Musonda and the team’s Namibian striker, Bethuel Muzeu, will not be an easy task for the Gomora defence. Musonda scored the opening goal when Leopards played to a 1-1 draw with Baroka FC at Thohoyandou Stadium two weeks ago.