Orlando Pirates’ pursuit of a second CAF Champions League title resumes this weekend as they face Lesotho side Lioli in the opening leg of their first Preliminary Round tie.
The Buccaneers are looking for a second consecutive appearance in the group stage after reaching the semifinals last season.
Standing in their way first up this season is a relatively unknown quantity in continental football circles in the form of the men from the Mountain Kingdom. They pose a potential banana peel for the 1995 champions at a stage of the competition that has occasionally delivered some upsets.
Orlando Pirates are looking for another star
The Buccaneers and Lioli will play each other for the first time and their two-legged tie is set to shape the rest of each side’s season.
The Buccaneers are favourites coming into the match, having already bagged their first trophy of the season last weekend.
With four wins and a single draw in their last five fixtures, Orlando Pirates boast an impressive 11 goals during this period and have proven difficult to score against, having only let in one goal.
What time is the match?
Orlando Pirates and Lioli will play the first leg at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein and kick-off is 15:00 on Saturday. The match will be live on SABC 1 and also SABC SPORT.
The return leg will be played at the Orlando Stadium a week later. A convincing win in Free State will all but see the Buccaneers into the next round.