Ajax and AmaZulu eye Absa Premiership boost

Ajax Cape Town will be eying a timely boost when they welcome an AmaZulu side gaining in confidence to Athlone Stadium in an Absa Premiership showdown on Saturday evening. Kick-off is at 8:15pm.

The Urban Warriors suffered a third defeat from their last four league matches, and a fifth overall - going down 1-0 to fellow strugglers Platinum Stars last time out.

Stanley Menzo’s troops, though, will fancy their chances on home soil having conjured two wins, a draw and a defeat from four turns as hosts. In their latest game on home soil, the Cape club recorded a 2-1 win over high-flying Bloemfontein Celtic.

Usuthu played to a second successive league draw as they were held 0-0 at home by Kaizer Chiefs in midweek. Cavin Johnson - who previously worked at Ikamva - watched his side dominate the Glamour Boys for most of the clash, only to end up with a point.

The Durban side has lost just one of its last six league matches as they make good progress on their return to South Africa’s top-flight.

Goals from Mabhuti Khenyeza and Siyabonga Nomvethe guided the club a 2-1 win over Mamelodi Sundowns in their most recent away fixture last month.

The teams have not met in the league since the 2014/15 season, a campaign in which both of their matches ended in draws: 0-0 in Durban and 1-1 in the return game in Cape Town. AmaZulu are unbeaten in their last five league matches against Ajax, and have lost just one of their last eight against the Cape side.

Predicted Starting 11:

Ajax Cape Town: February; Lebusa, Nhlapo, Booysen, Evans, Pietersen, Mdabuka, Mzwakali, Mosadi, Morris, Nxumalo.

AmaZulu: B.Pule, M.Gumede , Mtsweni, Sikhakhane, Morton, Ncube, Mnguni, Ncobeni, Khenyeza, Karuru, Manzini.

Head-to-Head Statistics:

LAST 10 LEAGUE RESULTS

Season Result Scorers
2010/11 AmaZulu 1-2 Ajax Shipahu; Billiat, Decamps
2010/11 Ajax 2-1 AmaZulu Billiat, Daniels; A. Dlamini
2011/12 AmaZulu 4-0 Ajax Allie (og), Lewis 2, Shipahu
2011/12 Ajax 2-4 AmaZulu Booth, Allie; G. Dlamini 2, Sangweni, Lekata
2012/13 AmaZulu 0-1 Ajax Grobler
2012/13 Ajax 0-0 AmaZulu
2013/14 Ajax 1-2 AmaZulu Paulse; Lolo (og), Nyadombo
2013/14 AmaZulu 1-0 Ajax G. Dlamini
2014/15 AmaZulu 0-0 Ajax
2014/15 Ajax 1-1 AmaZulu Cale; A. Dlamini

LEAGUE RECORD (since 1999/2000)

Home

P W D L GF GA
Ajax 12 6 4 2 19 12
AmaZulu 12 5 2 5 12 8

Away
P W D L GF GA
Ajax 12 5 2 5 8 12
AmaZulu 12 2 4 6 12 19

Total

P W D L GF GA
Ajax 24 11 6 7 27 24
AmaZulu 24 7 6 11 24 27

What They Said

Ajax Cape Town winger Neo Makua: “Having watched their game against Kaizer Chiefs, it looks like we are in for a tough game, but we have home ground advantage - we really need to win this match to climb up the log standings,” said Makua.

“It is not easy down there, so we just have to work hard and for the sake of our supporters and for ourselves, we need to win and get out of this situation. We will be going all out to get all three points.

“Victory will be a great booster going into next week's game against SuperSport United in Nelspruit.”

AmaZulu head coach Cavin Johnson:

"We put up a good performance and we should've done better [against Kaizer Chiefs], we really did a good job. Unlucky, we are building and we can see we are going somewhere,” said Johnson.

"There is a lot of effort and tenacity to go forward and create chances. Hopefully, if we are able to play the same way in our next game [against Ajax Cape Town], we will convert the chances we get. Satisfied with a point against Kaizer Chiefs, but hopefully we can do better [in Cape Town].”

Key Players:

Ajax Cape Town

Prince Nxumalo: The Urban Warriors need goals and will be hoping that the former Bafana Bafana forward will be the person to break their drought. The Cape side are notorious for bossing possession, but need to be more potent in the final third if they are to move clear of the relegation zone.

AmaZulu

Michael Morton: The hard tackling midfielder returned from suspension with a bang as Usuthu held the Amakhosi to a goalless stalemate in Durban. Morton was especially influential and caught the eye on a wet evening on South Africa’s East Coast. Coming up against an Urban Warriors outfit this weekend that like to spread the ball across the park - Morton will play a key role in breaking down play for Johnson’s troops.