Kaizer Chiefs begin quest for record-extending 16th MTN8 title

When Kaizer Chiefs take to the field Sunday at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville for their MTN8 quarter-final clash against Mamelodi Sundowns it will be just under a month since Amakhosi ended their 2020/21 season.

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The Glamour Boys were last in action on 17 July in the CAF Champions League final and Sunday’s match will be their first for the 2021/22 season.

It will also be Kaizer Chiefs’ 44th participation in the ‘Top 8’ competition under its various guises.

While all the chatter has been about Mamelodi Sundowns finishing as league winners with Kaizer Chiefs a lowly eighth, supporters would need to dive back into the archives to realise that Amakhosi have held sway in meetings between the sides in this tournament and other cup competitions since 1996/97.

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The sides first met in the MTN8 when it was still known as the BP Top 8 in the 1992 final, which Kaizer Chiefs won 1-0 courtesy of a lone goal from Ace Khuse.

They met three more times in the final in 1994, 2001/02 and 2008/09. Kaizer Chiefs won all of those encounters – the latter two on penalties, including their first meeting in this competition in 1992. The teams have met seven times in the MTN8. Amakhosi are ahead in the head-to-head count winning five clashes to Mamelodi Sundowns’ two.

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Of their previous seven MTN8 clashes, two have been decided by penalty kicks with Kaizer Chiefs winning both of those in the 2001/02 final and the 2008/09 final.

In the PSL era since 1996/97, the teams have met an astonishing 16 times in cup games. Each team has managed four wins in open play with a further seven heading to penalty shootouts and Kaizer Chiefs have managed to win six, with Sundowns claiming one win on spot kicks. Only one game ended in a draw.

Since their first meeting in this competition in 1992, the sides have met twice in the quarter-finals in 1993 and 2012/13.

Both those games were won by Mamelodi Sundowns.

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Kaizer Chiefs will be aware that on the five occasions they have defeated Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8, they have lifted the trophy on four occasions.

So, overcoming Mamelodi Sundowns in a cup game is a good sign for Amakhosi who will be vying for a record extending 16th MTN8 title, a trophy the club last won in 2015 with Stuart Baxter in his first spell in charge of the team.

When Baxter started his first tenure at Kaizer Chiefs in 2012, it was against Sundowns in the MTN8. Amakhosi lost that match.

While his first game domestically is against Mamelodi Sundowns again, Baxter will be hoping that he has had sufficient time in the last few weeks to have molded his team into being challengers once again for top honours.

In the three previous campaigns when Kaizer Chiefs were in the MTN8 with Baxter at the helm, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2012/13, the semi-finals in 2013/14 and lifted the title in 2014/15.

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Overall, Kaizer Chiefs have a good record in MTN8 quarter-finals in the PSL era.

This is their 19th appearance in the competition. In their previous 18 quarter-finals, they have recorded 13 wins and lost five matches.

None of Kaizer Chiefs’ previous 18 MTN8 quarter-finals since the re-introduction of the competition in 2000/01 have required a penalty shootout.

Kaizer Chiefs’ first very match in the MTN8 back in February 1972 ended in a 3-0 away win over Royal Morning Stars.

Victory against Mamelodi Sundowns this weekend will be just what Kaizer Chiefs need to kick-start their bid for a 16th MTN8 crown.

It will give the Soweto giants a boost ahead of the start of the DStv Premiership the following weekend.

MTN8 QUARTER-FINALS:

Saturday, 14 August

Golden Arrows vs SuperSport United – 15:00

Orlando Pirates vs Swallows – 158:00

Sunday, 15 August

Mamelodi Sundowns vs Kaizer Chiefs – 15:00

AmaZulu vs Cape Town City – 18:00