Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Manqoba Mngqithi says that their opponents on Wednesday, Golden Arrows, can be a very difficult opposition.
Sundowns go into this game on the back of a 2-2 draw against AS Maniema in the DRC, and will continue their CAF Champions League campaign on the weekend when they host the same opponents in the second leg of their second preliminary round tie.
But first the DStv Premiership leaders face Arrows at the Sugar Ray Xulu, and Mngqithi, who is of course a former Arrows coach, warns that the Durban outfit can be a tricky to face.
“Ja, Golden Arrows is always that ‘bananas’ game,” Mngqithi told the club’s media department.
“Very difficult to predict, the team they used against us and changed it when they played Sekhukhune, brought in more stability in their midfield, with three men, defensive and offensive midfield, of Ndwandwe, Mbhele and Dlamini, more impact to play behind the defence with Mmodi and Makhubane, with Mutizwa always coming to short, probably to create space for the wingers because they come inside.
“So it’s always a very difficult team to approach, but we believe we’ve got a team that’s is capable of dealing with it.”
Mngqithi also says they’ll probably have to make a few changes to the side that played in Congo.
“There’ll be some changes, to try to refresh the team, considering that we had travel and played in very harsh weather, very humid and most players were dehydrated,” he added.
“So obviously we’ll have to do have a few changes, we cannot tamper that much with the line-up, we’ve had some bad injuries that have caused us to change the line-up a lot.
“And that’s basically what has put us in a very bad foot, but fortunately we’re coming to this match at the back of maybe regaining some of those players that were not there in Congo.”
