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Johannesburg - Six draws and three losses in their past nine league matches. This is the story of Golden Arrows, who will try to give an early Christmas present to their supporters when they host Maritzburg United in their last game of the year this afternoon.
It has been a long time since Arrows tasted victory – way back in September, when they beat Platinum Stars away from home.
Since then, it has been tough going for Clinton Larsen’s men, who suffered three defeats and drew six games in the process. They also lost their Telkom Knockout tie to Orlando Pirates.
The two KwaZulu-Natal sides have one thing in common going into today’s derby – they both lost to Mamelodi Sundowns in their previous games.
But it will be Arrows who need the three points the most, following their back-to-back defeats to Sundowns and Free State Stars.
United, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back from their midweek loss to Sundowns.
After scoring seven goals in two games, Fadlu Davids’ charges failed to find the back of the net against the Brazilians, and will be hoping to find their scoring form again today.
Interestingly, United go back to where their revival started when they scored four against Cape Town City a week ago to arrest their mini slump after going eight games without a victory in the league.
Then they scored three against Baroka FC at home before facing Sundowns.
Davids will once again pin his hopes on Evans Rusike, who leads their scoring charts with five goals.
Fresh from their trip to Bethlehem in the Free State, SuperSport United continue their journey when they travel to Polokwane for a date with Baroka at Peter Mokaba Stadium.
United seem to be paying the price for playing in the CAF Confederation Cup, where they reached the final, as they are now playing catch-up in the Absa Premiership.
From Polokwane, they will head to the Free State, where they’ll visit Bloemfontein Celtic at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Mangaung on Wednesday to complete their programme.
United will be hoping to get back to winning ways following their 1-0 loss to Free State Stars on Wednesday in the game that will bring the curtain down on 2017.
Baroka, who were this week confirmed as the
Q-Innovation champions, have not won in their past seven matches.
More worrying for Kgoloko Thobejane should be the fact that his team has conceded seven goals in their past two matches – without managing to score once.
Perhaps the possibility of winning the R1.5 million early Christmas present will motivate them to end the year on a high note.
Sundowns will host Cape Town City at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Tuesday and will be looking to finish the year at the summit of the log.
