'Orlando Pirates will win the Soweto Derby': Jabu Mahlangu makes his Chiefs vs Bucs prediction

Jabu Mahlangu has put his head on the block and says Orlando Pirates will beat traditional rivals Kaizer Chiefs when the two sides meet in a highly anticipated Soweto derby at a sold out FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Mahlangu turned out for both clubs during his playing days but the midfielder leaned towards Pirates and said the Bucs would have enough ammunition to see off premiership leaders Chiefs in the mouthwatering encounter.

“Orlando Pirates will win the Soweto Derby‚” a forthright Mahlangu said.

“Orlando Pirates are on form‚ they are playing a good brand of football‚ mixing modern football with a bit of kasi flavor.

“They are scoring goals and their defence is much better under the new coach.”

The former dribbling wizard said Chiefs have a slight advantage when it comes to set-pieces but he maintained that this would not be enough for AmaKhosi to beat Pirates.

“Kaizer Chiefs are very dangerous with set-pieces and diagonal passes to strikers Nurkovic [Samir] and Castro [Leonardo]‚ but for them to beat Pirates they need a plan B because if Pirates stop the supply of those diagonal passes‚ they will struggle‚” he said.

The former Bafana Bafana international said he was not impressed by Chiefs’ style of play under coach Ernst Middendorp.

He echoed Chiefs legend Absalom "Scara" Thindwa who said even though Chiefs are winning‚ he was not impressed by the style of play under the German.

“I don’t like their style of play‚” said Mahlangu.

“They don’t play Chiefs' brand of football.”

Mahlangu was also quick to caution that current form would not really come into play in the derby.

“Pirates have an advantage in terms of confidence going into this game because of the six consecutive league wins they have had‚” he said.

“But a derby is a different game on the day.

"The team that will minimise their mistakes will always have a chance to win the game.”