Polokwane City will be hoping to use home-ground advantage to revive their Betway Premiership campaign when they welcome in-form AmaZulu FC to the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium this afternoon.
The match is scheduled for 5.30pm, with both sides entering the encounter with contrasting fortunes after the opening six league matches of the season.
Polokwane City are currently eighth on seven points, having won one, drawn four and lost one of their six matches.
AmaZulu, meanwhile, are sitting third with 13 points, having collected four wins, one draw and one defeat.
Rise and Shine looking for a breakthrough
Polokwane City’s biggest problem so far has been their inability to turn promising performances into victories.
Their campaign started positively with a 2-1 away victory over Richards Bay, but that was followed by a 3-3 draw against Stellenbosch and a 2-0 defeat to Sekhukhune United.
They subsequently drew 0-0 with Milford FC and 2-2 against Marumo Gallants before producing another battling performance against Kaizer Chiefs last weekend.
Against Chiefs, Polokwane fell behind to Lebohang Maboe’s 29th-minute goal but fought back to earn a 1-1 draw, with Giovanni Philander’s second-half corner ultimately ending up in the net after a mistake by goalkeeper Brandon Petersen.
The result extended their unbeaten run in the league to four matches, but the fact that only one of those matches has produced three points illustrates where Rise and Shine need improvement.
They have also struggled to turn home matches into victories, having drawn against both Stellenbosch and Milford before sharing the spoils with Chiefs.
Coach and his technical team will therefore be looking for greater ruthlessness in front of goal against an AmaZulu side that has already demonstrated its ability to punish defensive mistakes.
AmaZulu arrive with confidence
AmaZulu, on the other hand, travel to Polokwane with considerably more momentum.
Usuthu have won their last two league matches, beating Richards Bay 2-1 before edging Marumo Gallants 1-0 last weekend.
Their biggest weapon at present is undoubtedly Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya, who has enjoyed an extraordinary start to the campaign.
Ngwenya scored against Gallants to make it seven league goals and, according to recent reports, he has scored in every league match AmaZulu have played this season.
His latest goal came in the 36th minute against Gallants, when he headed home a cross from Nkosikhona Radebe.
AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane, however, has warned against his team becoming too dependent on Ngwenya, with the coach calling for other players to share the goalscoring responsibility.
That could make the encounter particularly interesting because Polokwane will know that stopping Ngwenya’s supply will be one of their biggest defensive assignments.
The fixture also brings back memories of last season, when AmaZulu defeated Polokwane City 1-0 at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in March.
Polokwane therefore have another reason to be determined to produce a different result this time around. Their recent home draw against Chiefs showed that they can compete with higher-placed opponents, but AmaZulu currently present a different challenge given their attacking form.
Interestingly, the recent head-to-head record is closely contested.
Battle of two contrasting ambitions
For Polokwane City, victory would take them closer to the upper half of the table and provide evidence that their recent run of draws can finally be converted into a sustained challenge.
For AmaZulu, three points would strengthen their position among the early-season leaders and maintain their pressure on the teams above them.
The spotlight will inevitably fall on Ngwenya, but Polokwane will be hoping their home crowd can inspire Rise and Shine’s attackers to produce the finishing required to end their run of draws.
There are three other Betway Premiership matches scheduled for Saturday which will see Richards Bay welcoming Sekhukhune United at the Princess Magogo Stadium at 3pm while
Kruger United will be entertaining at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit at 8pm.
The Richards Bay-Sekhukhune clash is particularly important at the bottom half of the table, with Richards Bay currently 14th on three points while Sekhukhune are sixth on eight.
Kruger United will also be looking to build on their first Premiership victory, a 1-0 win over TS Galaxy, while Stellenbosch will be seeking points after sitting ninth on six points.