Ngcobo, Shabalala make honest Sundowns admission ahead of clash | OneFootball

Interview

Chiefs midfielders anticipate tough test against Sundowns

Photo: Mduduzi Shabalala and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo

Kaizer Chiefs midfielders Nkosingiphile Ngcobo and Mduduzi Shabalala have made an honest admission about their next Betway Premiership opponents, Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Soweto giants will host the defending league champions at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday (19h30) in what will be their fourth league outing of the 2025/26 campaign.

While confidence is at an all-time high at Naturena, with Chiefs having won their opening three league outings for the first time since the 2014/15 season, Sundowns head into the encounter on the back of an MTN8 semi-final exit to Orlando Pirates last Saturday.

In addition, the Brazilians have been embroiled in a transfer saga with several stars reportedly looking to secure moves away from the club. When quizzed on whether the blockbuster clash came at the right time amid the noise around Downs, Ngcobo insisted otherwise.

“I think we know the quality of Sundowns very well, we can never say because they lost their previous game it’s going to be an easy game, it’s not going to be an easy game,” said the 25-year-old Amakhosi midfielder.

“They are a very strong team, they have their positives but also their negatives, so we are just going to be working to capitalize on the negatives and making sure that we bring our A-game.

Meanwhile, Shabalala echoed the same sentiments as his teammate, stating that Masandawana’s previous results will count for nothing at the Calabash as he acknowledges that the record-extending eight-time in a row league champions are still a force to be reckoned with.

“Obviously in these types of games previous results don’t matter because at the end of the day it’s about who is the best and who wants it more and obviously tactically you need to be sharp,” cautioned ‘Mdu or die’, as the player is fondly known.

“They are a big team; you can’t take it away [from them]. So, even us, we want to win the game, and we also want to give our best and we are not concerned about anything, and we are not focused on what happened in their game on Saturday.