Kaizer Chiefs face a stiff test of their credentials at home to Mamelodi Sundowns in the Betway Premiership on Saturday.
Amakhosi have enjoyed a perfect start to their 2024/25 campaign under new head coach Nasreddine Nabi, beating Mamuro Gallants 2-1 and AmaZulu 3-1.
Nabi has strengthened a squad that recorded their worst-ever finish to a league season last time around as they ended in 10th place.
But his charges now face the Brazilians a side that is also firing on all cylinders, having beaten SuperSport United 2-0 and Gallants 4-1 under manager Manqoba Mngqithi.
“All of Africa and myself, respect Mamelodi Sundowns. It’s a great team, and I congratulate the coach on the place they reached in Africa,” Nabi said ahead of the FNB Stadium encounter, who also feels his team didn’t have much time to prepare for this tie.
“We are still learning and keeping our bases, we have a lot of things to build on. We are still very much in the construction phase. We need some time to build on this because it is just the second match.
“I would have loved to have more time to prepare the team tactically because the approach is different from AmaZulu,” the coach explained.
Mngqithi has, meanwhile, praised Nabi’s progress with Chiefs.
“I must commend the work coach Nabi has done with the team. In a very short time, the team looks very dangerous,” he said.
“It’s always difficult to pre-empt what is going to happen in the next match. It’s our wish to see the team scoring goals; it’s our wish to see the team creating a lot of opportunities.
“But, with due respect, it is always important to give respect to the opponents. You don’t want to go into that match with a sense that you are entitled to get the results, or you are entitled to score goals because I think at the moment Chiefs are also playing well,” added the Brazilians boss.
In five previous league meetings, Sundowns have won four and there has been one draw.