The Thohoyandou Stadium is expected to be packed to capacity on Friday afternoon. That is where the much-awaited Motsepe Foundation Championship league match between the local teams, Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) and Venda Football Academy (VFA), will take place.
A quick glance at the track records of the two teams shows that TTM will be lucky if they manage to grab a point in the game. TTM, or Vhadau Vha Damani as they are commonly known, are still to deposit a point into their league account this year. They had lost all four their matches, including their Nedbank Cup qualifying-round match against Cape Town All Stars.
The Tshakhuma side will be without the head coach of the team, Mr Lucky Nelukau, when they face VFA on Friday. The 42-year-old mentor was placed under precautionary suspension by the club last Friday, pending the finalisation of a criminal case that he is facing.
VFA, on the other hand, are still to lose a game after they had appointed the former Black Leopards' head coach, Mr Joel Masutha, to the position of head coach towards the end of last month.
The spirit is high in the VFA camp after they had collected the maximum points at the expense of Platinum City Rovers, whom they had beaten 1-0 at the Olën Park Stadium in Potchefstroom last Sunday. VFA's centre back, Nhlanhla Makhubele, will watch the game from the grandstand. He is still serving his suspension after receiving his marching orders in their game against Uthongathi FC, which was played at the Thohoyandou Stadium last Wednesday (18th).
Unless he passes a late fitness test, the TTM's sharpshooter, Thabiso Nkoana, will also watch his teammates in action from a distance. Nkoana was taken off the field on a stretcher with an injury to the knee in their game against JDR Stars at the same venue last Sunday. Should Nkoana not be available for the game, TTM will pin their hopes on Rendani Ndou and Moeketsi Sekola for goals.
The other weekend fixtures are Black Leopards vs University of Pretoria FC, Platinum City Rovers vs Hungry Lions, JDR Stars vs MM Platinum FC, Polokwane City vs Magesi FC, Pretoria Callies vs Baroka FC, Uthongathi FC vs Casric Stars and Cape Town Spurs vs Cape Town All Stars.