Ajax Cape Town on Friday evening will play host to Polokwane City in an Absa Premiership fixture at Cape Town Stadium, with the Urban Warriors desperate to finally get their season up and running.

Kick-off is at 8:00pm (CAT).

Stanley Menzo’s troops are winless after three round of league fixtures with a 1-1 draw against Golden Arrows followed by successive defeats away to Maritzburg United (2-0) and Orlando Pirates (1-0) respectively.

Rise and Shine also head into the clash on the back of a defeat with the Limpopo outfit falling to a 2-1 loss at home to Bloemfontein Celtic. Even the continuing form of striker Rodney Ramagalela wasn’t enough to see the club avoid their first defeat of the season.

City, though, did record an impressive 2-1 win on their last away outing - defeating CAF Champions League holders Mamelodi Sundowns in the country’s capital thanks to a brace from Ramagalela.

Ajax boast a healthy record against their counterparts on home soil with two wins and two draws from four matches. Overall, the Urban Warriors have only lost to Polokwane City on one single occasion.

Predicted Starting 11:

Ajax Cape Town: Petersen; Evans, Nhlapo, Booysen, Lebusa - Mdabuka, Margeman, Kabwe - Mosadi, Makua, Morris

Polokwane City: Chigova, Maponyane, Mbonani, Semenya, Hlongwane, Manaka, Seabi, Mngomezulu, Klaas, Maluleke, Ramagalela.

Head-to-Head Record

ALL LEAGUE RESULTS

Season Result Scorers

2013/14 Polokwane 2-0 Ajax Tshilo, Nzimande

2013/14 Ajax 2-0 Polokwane Dolly, Paulse

2014/15 Polokwane 1-2 Ajax Mobara (og); Nkoana, Morris

2014/15 Ajax 1-1 Polokwane Morris; Jembula

2015/16 Ajax 2-1 Polokwane Paulse, Mobara; Maluleke

2015/16 Polokwane 2-3 Ajax Maluleke 2; E. Isaacs, Nxumalo 2

2016/17 Ajax 1-1 Polokwane Paulse; Mncwango (pen)

2016/17 Polokwane 1-1 Ajax Ramagalela; Margeman

LEAGUE RECORD (since 2013/14)

Home

P W D L GF GA

Ajax 4 2 2 0 6 3

Polokwane 4 1 1 2 6 6

Away

P W D L GF GA

Ajax 4 2 1 1 6 6

Polokwane 4 0 2 2 3 6

Total

P W D L GF GA

Ajax 8 4 3 1 12 9

Polokwane 8 1 3 4 9 12

What they said

Ajax Cape Town head coach Stanley Menzo:

You have to be honest, looking at the three games we played thus far, we only have one point - not enough - so this is a crucial game. We have to win this one, we have to catch up.

It won’t be easy because Polokwane City are a difficult team to beat.

It is not nice when you look at the log standings and you see yourself in 15th place. When you are second there is definitely more energy, but we have to bounce back. There is still a long way to go.

In the second half against Pirates I saw things that will help us going forward. What the team needs is a win.

Polokwane City head coach Bernard Molekwa following their defeat to Siwelele:

I have to motivate the players and tell them that this happens. We were not at our best, but I think we had the better part of the game where maybe we could have done better.

We need to show character, we need to raise our heads and come [back] strong and make up for the three points we lost.

I hope we can redeem ourselves on Friday against Ajax Cape Town.

Players to keep an eye on:

Rodney Ramagalela has been in inspired form for Polokwane City this season and the hard-running ,former Mamelodi Sundowns forward, will aim to add to Ajax Cape Town’s woes. In midfield, Jabulani Maluleke will be aiming to run the show against an Urban Warriors side that boast an at times fragile core.

Ndiviwe Mdabuka is set to go head-to-head with Maluleke in the middle of the park with the Urban Warriors dependant on ‘Diva’ to fill the void left by Travis Graham. Goals, though, is what Ajax Cape Town need and Tashreeq Morris will be hoping that third time's a charm.