Elmo Kambindu Elmo Kambindu of AmaZulu will be a marked man against his former club Chippa United. | BackpagePix
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THE almost similar comments made by coaches Arthur Zwane of AmaZulu and Thabo September of Chippa United, after their last matches ahead of the recent international break, might just see them approaching their Premiership encounter this weekend in the same way.
The match will be played at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London on Saturday at 3.30pm.
In their last matches, AmaZulu lost 2-1 to high-flying TS Galaxy, whilst Chippa beat Polokwane City 2-0.
September and Zwane might as well have been singing from the same hymn book ahead of the break.
“We need to do well in our finishing, we need to create good chances for us to score,” September said.
“We need to make the right decision in the final third, I think the build-up... I think we need to work on (that), to get into the final third.
“We also need to work on our set-pieces attacking and defensively.”
Zwane stated: “It was simply poor decision-making (against Galaxy). It’s not that we aren’t getting into the right areas at the right time; it’s the execution of those decisions.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have much time to dwell on these issues now, as we need to secure results, with games coming thick and fast.
“We are dealing with seasoned campaigners, and you expect them to make better decisions.”
The two sides are not short of common issues.
They are both fighting for a top-eight finish as they currently stand either side of Kaizer Chiefs, who are eighth, behind the seventh-placed Durbanites.
As if that wasn’t enough to stir things up even further, Usuthu will be looking up to former Chilli Boys striker Elmo Kambindu to continue his goal-scoring run since joining the Durban side in the January transfer window.
Kambindu has since scored four goals in eight league games for AmaZulu, who won the first leg of this encounter 2-0.
AmaZulu will be looking to snap a three-match winless run, which saw them draw with struggling SuperSport United and lose 2-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns ahead of Galaxy.
Chippa meanwhile, with their win against Polokwane, ended a very similar poor winless run of three matches, which saw them lose 1-0 to Sekhukhune United, draw with Richards Bay and lose 1-0 to Orlando Pirates.
Both clubs recently made adjustments in their technical teams as well.
AmaZulu lost Vusumuzi Vilakazi as Zwane’s co-coach leaving the latter to a sole head-coach role.
Chippa, on the other hand, recalled Morgan Mammila and appointed him as their first ever sporting director.
Besides Kambindu, who surely will be a closely watched man, other players to watch in this encounter are Chippa midfielder Sinoxolo Kwayiba and AmaZulu’s Rowan Human.
Kwayiba will be buoyed by making Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos’ 37-man preliminary squad ahead of the recent Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
Both midfielders have been in great form, snatching back-to-back Player of the Match awards respectively.