Siwilele FC and Mamelodi Sundowns will both be determined to wrap up the year 2025 with a win when they meet in the Betway Premiership match at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium on Wednesday.
Kick-off is at 7:30 pm CAT.
CURRENT FORM
Siwelele are coming into this match winless in their last two games, having drawn 0-0 with Chippa United in the Betway Premiership at home on 29 November and before that, they had succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to AmaZulu FC on the road on 22 November.
Therefore, the Free State outfit are placed 12th in the league standings - two points behind ninth-placed Richards Bay and a victory over Sundowns would see Siwelele boost their bid to retain their status in the top-flight heading into the AFCON break.
Sundowns, on the other hand, drew 0-0 with MC Alger in the CAF Champions League on 28 November as they extended their unbeaten run to eight matches across all competitions in regulation time, including a 2-1 win over TS Galaxy in their last Betway Premiership game on 5 November.
Masandawana find themselves placed second in the Betway Premiership standings - three points behind leaders, Orlando Pirates, but the Tshwane giants will end the year at the top of the table if they avoid a defeat against Siwelele.
TEAM NEWS
Siwelele have been dealt a blow ahead of their clash with Sundowns, as Relebogile Mokhuoane has been ruled out due to a one-match suspension and the experienced midfielder has been a regular in coach Lehlohonolo Seema's starting line-ups.
Meanwhile, Sundowns have no suspension issues, but the reigning Betway Premiership champions will be without the services of the attacking duo of Kutlwano Letlhaku and Peter Shalulile, who are both nursing injuries at the moment.
WHAT WAS SAID?
Siwelele FC head coach Lehlohonolo Seema
“We’re still trying to take that mentality out and for us to take it out, we will win games, and we will lose some," Seema said.
“But that makes us vulnerable because everybody is targeting us. And we know that we don’t have the team that we want to have come next season.
“We gonna be a different team altogether and we want to make sure that we fight relegation... I’m sure teams were thinking they’d get points easily from us, but we surprised them because we’re not giving up.”
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso
“We did a wonderful job in Algeria, and the players must be congratulated because they controlled the match. The few moments we saw from MC Alger came from moments of losing the ball in the middle,” Cardoso said.
“It was a beautiful match that was played by two good teams. Sundowns must be proud of the way they played. We had the intention to control it.”
“We had fantastic organisation, putting good pressure on the opponent and not allowing them too many entries in the box. We would have liked three points, but we will take one and prepare for the future.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Siviwe Magidigidi, Siwelele FC: The South Africa youth international has been the Free State side's main source of goals, having found the back of the net four times and also provided one assist in 11 league matches this term.
Tashreeq Matthews, Mamelodi Sundowns: The 25-year-old attacker has caught the eye with his ability to both score and create goals, having netted four times and provided four assists in 12 league games in the current campaign.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
This will be the first-ever meeting between Siwelele and Mamelodi Sundowns.