Bernard Morrison of Pirates celebrates goal during the 2017/18 Absa Premiership football match between Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town at Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg on 12 September 2017. (Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix)
Nedbank Cup: Orlando Pirates v Ajax Cape Town preview- Head to head, teams, kick off and live stream
The Buccaneers will look to reassert their dominance over the Urban Warriors, following the shock defeat in their most recent league encounter.
Bernard Morrison of Pirates celebrates goal during the 2017/18 Absa Premiership football match between Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town at Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg on 12 September 2017. (Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix)
Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town do battle in pick of the weekend’s Nedbank Cup fixtures as they clash at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday. This is the second time these two sides meet in the space of two weeks, following the shock result in Cape Town on Wednesday 31 January, where the Urban Warriors emerged 3-0 victors.
That result was the one shining light for the outfit from the Mother City in what is undoubtedly their worst ever season in their two decades in the top flight.
The Urban Warriors are in a battle for survival in the league and, although staying afloat is paramount, they will welcome a change in competition and a good cup run could go some way towards restoring confidence and give some much needed consistency going into the closing stages of the season.
They will want to do one better than how their opponents did in this competition the previous season as they overcame a disappointing season of their own, only to fall emphatically on the final hurdle as they lost rather convincingly to Supersport United to finish runners-up.
Giving this particular fixture an extra edge is the prospect of Pirates coach Muhsin Etugral, now in charge of Ajax, again taking on his former side. He will want to prove that the previous result was no fluke and will love nothing more than to knock his former charges out of the competition.
The Turk is not the only former Buccaneer in the Ajax camp, controversial star forward Tendai Ndoro will be desperate to get on the score card this time around, barely a year after leaving the Soweto giants.
Head to head
Pirates have been rather dominant over their opponents, only losing twice in their last 16 meetings in all competition, registering 12 wins in the process.
The two sides are yet to meet in this particular competition while Ajax won the last cup encounter, beating the hosts 1-0 in the MTN8 back in August 2015.
Starting XI
Orlando Pirates – TBA
Ajax Cape Town – TBA
Kick off: 20:15
Live stream: Supersport 4 (SS4).
