Brazilians wary of the boys from Maritzburg

Maritzburg United may be eighth on the Absa premiership log but their next opponents, Mamelodi Sundowns, are taking no chances.

The No1 team will be wary of their rivals' counterattack as well as their dangerous striking duo of Evans Rusike and Andrea Fileccia when they clash at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Wednesday (7.30pm kickoff), says the Brazilians' captain, Hlompho Kekana.

The Pretoria giants have found United tough to beat in recent scraps.

Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has complained about the team from Pietermaritzburg parking the bus, most recently after United beat the Brazilians 1-0 in the MTN8 in Pretoria.

Maritzburg drew home and away against Sundowns in the league last season.

"Playing against Maritzburg is always difficult for us. They play on the break every time," Kekana said.

"So, for us it's always tough and playing at home the expectations are always high that we should win the match. But as players we know it's not going to be easy.

"We are aware of how they play and of their dangermen, especially their strike force, Rusike and Fileccia.

"Obviously, we have to give them respect. They won their last match with a big margin.

"To prevent them from playing well we have to make sure that we close them down. Maybe we close them from playing their normal game.

"And hopefully we come up with the goal that we need to win the match," said Kekana.

Sundowns have two other matches left in 2017 -both at Loftus. They are against Bloemfontein Celtic on Saturday and Cape Town City on December 19.

The Brazilians (with 22 points from 11 games) have three matches in hand over second-placed Orlando Pirates (20 points) and third-placed Kaizer Chiefs (19). They will, as a result, aim to open a commanding gap at the top by Christmas.

In the only other Premier Soccer League match on Wednesday, Free State Stars, 10th on the table, host Supersport, 11th on the log, in Bethlehem.