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Santos still in title race
24/04/2008 13:08 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Santos can maintain the pressure on joint log leaders Ajax Cape Town and SuperSport United when they travel to Durban to face Kaizer Chiefs in an Absa Premiership match on Saturday night.
The Cape Town team is in third place, five points behind Ajax and SuperSport who have 47. A win for them will cut the lead down to two points and give Santos hope of still taking the title.
Their form this year - nine games unbeaten - is more than enough proof they can do it and with Ajax and SuperSport having slipped up recently, their idea of winning a second league title is not unattainable.
Free State Stars held Ajax to a 1-1 draw and Mamelodi Sundowns thrashed SuperSport 3-1, stopping them from increasing their slender lead at the top. But against Chiefs, Santos will be facing a somewhat resurgent Soweto giant.
The nomadic Chiefs beat Stars 4-1, amaZulu 1-0 and Moroka Swallows 3-1 in recent times. Their good form was quashed in their last clash against Sundowns who beat them 1-0.
Nevertheless, AmaKhosi still have the motivation and that is to get into the top half of the table.
Spectacle
Occupying 11th place, they have to win their remaining games to move into the top eight, and with Santos recently losing in a Cup game, the evidence is there coach David Bright's charges are not unbeatable.
With both sides capable of dishing out a spectacle this game is definitely the pick of this weekends league matches. Kick off is at 20:00 at the Absa Stadium.
Also on Saturday in Bethlehem, Stars host AmaZulu with the hope of jumping into the top eight while the Durban side look to increase the distance between them and the relegation contenders.
Although they're not in danger of dropping, AmaZulu cannot afford to drop points at this juncture.
Black Leopards are optimistic they can avoid the drop, but against Bidvest Wits they will need more than optimism. Leopards are rock bottom and even if they beat Wits, they will remain there.
Wits is another side looking to stay in the top eight but this is hardly a game that will get bums on seats, even on a Saturday afternoon in Thohoyandou.
Relegation
Both these games kick off at 3pm.
On Sunday the Absa Premiership excitement continues with teams threatened by relegation. Jomo Cosmos, in 15th placed, take on Golden Arrows who are the only team not in any relegation trouble on this day.
The other fixture sees 14th placed Thanda Royal Zulu hosting 13th placed Bloemfontein Celtic. Only six points separate Cosmos, TRZ and Celtic.
The latter have 27. TRZ 24 and Cosmos 21. While a draw will be okay for Celtic, TRZ have to win to get away from Cosmos and avoid being drawn into the disparaging play-off round.
It's difficult to imagine Cosmos actually beating Arrows who, in fifth place, are also challenging to stay in the top half. Arrows, along with 13 other clubs have been in much better nick this year than Cosmos.
Expect little to change at the bottom of the log after the weekend's games.
Their kicks off are at 15:00.
- SAPA
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