Sundowns Eye Top Spot As They Welcome Baroka

With a convincing win against Bakgaga Ba Mphahlele, Mamelodi Sundowns could go on top of the table if Kaizer Chiefs fail to beat Bidvest Wits at FNB Stadium.

Pitso Mosimane’s boys will welcome Baroka at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday afternoon and a win of more than four goals might see them occupy the top spot in the league.

However, they will be coming up against a Baroka side which has been on the rise of late, playing good football and collecting points. Baroka are placed 14 on the log with 25 points after 27 matches.

Sundowns are unbeaten in their last three matches, winning once and drawing twice, and will be coming into the match straight from a tough conquest against Kaizer Chiefs last weekend.

The last time both sides met, the clash ended in a goalless stalemate in the first round of the current season.

The Brazilians have lost once to Baroka and that was in a cup game that was played way back in 2018.

In their last eight meetings, Sundowns have only lost once with Bakgakga, drawing three times and winning four times.

Meetings between the two sides have always delivered a mouth-watering clash and goals have been scored and Sundowns coach says they cannot afford to underestimate their upcoming opponents.

“There is more stress and there is more pressure for everybody, for us and for Chiefs,” Mosimane said on Thursday.

“Chiefs have stress against Wits. We have stress against Baroka.

“So we have been in this game for long and my players have been in this [before]. We have been in [CAF] Champions League.

“We have to respond. We have the right mentality for this and we have been going for the championship for last six to seven years, so we have the culture and we have the mentality. We know what to do.”

On his side, Baroka coach Dylan Kerr feels that they must give their best so as to avoid the chop as they are deep in relegation.