Johannesburg - Maritzburg United square off in a Kwa-Zulu Natal derby against Golden Arrows at the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg in an SA Premiership clash on Friday night.
Both teams have so far had underwhelming seasons. Maritzburg United are once again relegation candidates, while Golden Arrows are in the scrap to secure a top eight finish ahead of the MTN 8 tournament next season.
As neither side is in particularly good form, both teams can certainly feel that they can take away three points from this game. There is no favourite for this clash and both sides are likely to utilise a combination of attacking and defensive play.
The Team of Choice - as Maritzburg are known - will certainly take pride from their most recent result which was their 2-1 win over SuperSport United last week. The result ended a run of 11 winless games and three straight defeats for Ernst Middendorp’s side.
Maritzburg United may have lost key player Bongokuhle Hlongwane during the January transfer window to Major League Soccer club Minnesota United but they were active in recruiting, bringing in several new faces to add depth to their squad.
Their new Zambian signing Friday Samu was a livewire against SuperSport, scoring a goal on debut and playing a role in the other goal of his team which was scored by Rowan Human.
Meanwhile, Golden Arrows are on a frustrating run of form of their own as they are without a win in six games in all competitions, having most recently played out to a 1-0 home defeat against Cape Town City last weekend.
The last time that Lehlohonolo Seema’s side won a game, was when they downed relegation candidates Chippa United 2-1 in early December.
📍 Harry Gwala Training Pitch 💪![CDATA[]]>🥅#WeAreUnited pic.twitter.com/2LYUg4vZnC
Under Seema, Arrows have struggled to emulate their heroics from last season as the modest Lamontville based club finished an impressive fourth under former mentor Mandla Ncikazi who has since joined Orlando Pirates.
Arrows are four points adrift of eighth-placed SuperSport United, and they will need to start winning games again soon if they want to avoid losing pace on the top eight positions.