For Orlando Pirates, revenge will be the name of the game against Stellenbosch FC, who defeated them in the league in their 2023/24 season opener.
With Cape Town always proving to be a tricky place to visit for the big guns, it makes for so much interest that the Buccaneers will be at Athlone Stadium on Sunday for the MTN8 first leg semi-final fixture against Stellies.
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Former Pirates striker Tyren Arendse seems to think that history might repeat itself in the battle for the whopping R8 million winners' prize money for these two exciting teams.
"You don't know what's going to happen and that's the excitement of the MTN8. I mean, Stellenbosch beat Pirates the last time in the league game in Stellenbosch. Will it be the same? Will it be Pirates? I know that sometimes Cape Town can be a very difficult place for Pirates to play. So, will it be Stellenbosch to beat them again, or will it be the form that Pirates are in at the moment? After the game they lost in Stellenbosch they have picked up and they have been scoring a lot of goals and creating a lot of chances. It's sort of an interesting battle because Stellenbosch always show what they are made of when they play against the bigger teams," said Arendse, speaking to the Siya crew.
"You don't fancy them against the so-called smaller teams but when they come up against the bigger teams, they always find a way to do well. For example, they like to play counterattacking football against the big teams as teams like Pirates ad Sundowns like to attack and leave spaces at the back. With the quick attacking football that the boys from Stellenbosch play, teams like Pirates are always found wanting when those spaces are exploited," he added.
Meanwhile, Stellenbosch coach has hinted on how he plans to cause another upset against the Soweto giants.
"We just have to put in a committed good performance and start taking the chances when we are on top of teams. Maybe just to get that goal that can settle us," said Barker, speaking to the media.
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"So, when you are on top of teams and you don't score you become a little bit maybe desperate and you try maybe too hard and then you get a sucker punch. So, there's not too many changes for Sunday's approach. We do things our way and we will continue doing it our way," the coach said.
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