Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi admits Mamelodi Sundowns are now a much better side than the one his team has faced twice already this season.
Chiefs visit Sundowns at a sold-out Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday March 1 with memories of their last two meetings still fresh when they lost 2-1 in the PSL in September before a 4-0 thrashing in the Telkom Knockout two months later.
With their inconsistent run far from over, while Sundowns have gathered steam, Nabi expects a tough match from the Brazilians as he takes on Miguel Cardoso for the first time, having lost to the PSL champions when Manqoba Mngqithi was still in charge.
Scary prospect for Nabi and his team
“The first game against Sundowns, we had a good performance as Chiefs, it was an advertisement of what we can do, after that game, Sundowns and players respected us and you saw how they changed in the second game,” Nabi told iDiski Times.
“The result was a big result for them [4-0], but I maintain we weren’t bad, we played the game within two days after arriving from another game in Durban and it was tough, the players didn’t recover completely.
“If you don’t recover properly before playing Sundowns, who respect this fixture – but now we go into our third game this season, it’s a new coach for Sundowns with another philosophy, he changed some things in Sundowns.
“But I do think they are now better than before, they have more balance, more efficient [going forward] and defensively [stronger]. It will be a tough game against maybe the best team in Africa – and we’re in the process of building a squad.”
Is there any hope for Chiefs against Downs?
Nabi is, however, relishing the challenge as he feels it is such tests that his team need to learn from during this rebuilding phase.
“But I love these big games, we want to prove ourselves, our players love measuring themselves against the best – we will always have a chance [to] win, like any team against any opponent in any other game,” the Chiefs coach further said.
Chiefs were totally outclassed in their last match, losing 4-1 to SuperSport United, but they have had nearly two weeks to prepare for the Sundowns match.
The Brazilians have bossed Chiefs in recent years and are unbeaten against the Glamour Boys in their last 11 meetings, winning nine and drawing two, with Amakhosi’s last victory over Sundowns coming in April 2021.
