Mamelodi Sundowns defender Aubrey Modiba admits their fixture against Orlando Pirates brings extra motivation.
Sundowns host Pirates – who have finished runners-up in the league for the last three seasons, but come into the game with a six match winning streak, with six clean sheets – firmly overcoming their poor start which was two consecutive league losses.
Modiba is expected to play a key role in the encounter and speaking ahead of the game about what makes the tie special, he said it’s due to Pirates being realistic challengers for the title, they are now chasing for the ninth straight season and the Bafana Bafana squad.
“With Pirates you can check the last few seasons this is the team that has been pushing us in the league, especially towards the end, so I think that gives us extra motivation against them, even other teams as well,” Modiba said.
“But I think with Pirates, it’s because of that and also, there’s banter in the national team as well, we have more or less the same number of players there, so we always talk about this game, and we don’t want to lose to them and go into the national team – because you know the banter will be something else as players!
“But mostly they have been doing well in the league, pushing us to the limit and obviously taking three points from them helps us towards the end, to have an edge over them to potentially clinching the league [title].”
The first 2025/26 league meeting between the two sides kicks off at 15h30 at a sold out Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.
