04 February 2020

In-form Kaizer Chiefs will be expected to run rings around struggling GladAfrica Championship side Royal Eagles in their Nedbank Cup Last 32 game in Soweto on Saturday, but history suggests this will be no easy task for the Naturena club. Incredibly, 17 of Chiefs' 36 matches in the Nedbank Cup since 2008 have been against teams from the divisions below them, comfortably the most of any other side over that period. Among their peers, Mamelodi Sundowns (11 teams), Orlando Pirates (8) and SuperSport United (7) have faced lower league opposition on significantly fewer occasions over the same time-frame. So it is perhaps not surprising then that no Premier League team has lost to lower league teams over the last 12 years either, with Chiefs having been beaten on five occasions.

That includes last year’s final, when they went down 1-0 to GladAfrica Championship TS Galaxy in Durban for one of the biggest shocks in South African football history. They also lost to third-tier Baroka FC in 2011 in another major surprise, with other reversals against University of Pretoria (2009), FC Cape Town (2010) and Black Leopards (2015). But of those 17 matches against teams from outside the Premier League, Chiefs have won 12, with not a single draw. They have also scored almost double the number of goals they have conceded, 33-17. And a look at the two recent records of the club suggests there will be no upset this time.

Chiefs have won 14 of their 22 matches in all competitions this season, with five draws and just three defeats, a dominant record. Incidentally, they also won penalty shoot-outs against Cape Town City and Orlando Pirates in the League Cup should this tie go to spot-kicks. Contrast that with ailing Eagles, who have just three wins in 21 games and the records make for stark reading. Eagles scraped into the Last 32 after a penalty shoot-out victory over Moroka Swallows, the highlight so far of what has been a dismal season. Eagles have also twice before come up against top-flight opposition in the Nedbank Cup and lost 2-1 on both occasions, to SuperSport United (2017) and Maritzburg United (2018). Interestingly, both clubs they lost to made the final of the competition that year.

*The views represented are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent those of Nedbank.

       

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