Benni McCarthy looks on during a Cape Town City FC match. Photo: Bertram Malgas/BackpagePix
Cape Town City vs Maritzburg United: Prediction, scores, kick-off time and head-to-head
Cape Town City host Maritzburg United in the PSL on Friday night. Here’s all you need to know.
Benni McCarthy looks on during a Cape Town City FC match. Photo: Bertram Malgas/BackpagePix
A Cape Town City side in dire need of a win hosts a Maritzburg United outfit finally beginning to find some form on Friday at Cape Town Stadium.
Benni McCarthy’s men suffered heartbreak in the Telkom Knockout when they went down on penalties at home to Kaizer Chiefs.
Kermit Erasmus was electrifying for the Citizens, scoring the opener as he did on Amakhosi’s previous visit. However, history repeated itself again and City lost their momentum after he came off.
Speaking on his decision to replace Erasmus with Ebrahim Seedat with just over 10 minutes of regulation time remaining, McCarthy told the media: “Was he running fine, or was he sitting on the field every five minutes?
“I am just a coach, if a player asks me to be substituted what do you want me to do? Must I keep him on the pitch and leave the fresher guys on the bench?
“Everybody is good enough, if a player wants to come off, if he can’t anymore, he comes off, that’s it. There was no tactical change, he wanted to come off, simple, like the first game against Chiefs, he cried to come off and I took him off.”
City are now eight games without a win in all competitions. Maritzburg, by contrast, knocked Bidvest Wits out of the Telkom Knockout on penalties, claiming their third straight victory.
When these sides met last season, there was conflict, with video footage showing a tunnel bust-up between the camps at Athlone Stadium. City won the February encounter 3-2.
Cape Town City vs Maritzburg United: Head-to-head
The statistics below include league and cup matches dating back to the 2016-17 season and therefore exclude Mpumalanga Black Aces games.
| Record | Cape Town City | Maritzburg United |
| Wins | 3 | 2 |
| Draws | 2 | 2 |
| Losses | 2 | 3 |
| Goals for | 10 | 10 |
| Goals against | 10 | 10 |
| Points | 11 | 8 |
Kick-off time and prediction
Kick-off time: 20:00 SAST on Friday 25 October
Prediction: With Cape Town City having drawn five of their eight league games this season, another point is on the cards here.
It is difficult to predict how many goals there will be given the discrepancy in playing styles. City have seen 27 for and against so far this season in eight league games with Maritzburg seeing just nine in seven fixtures. Our best guess is that this game will see one goal apiece.
