Ajax Cape Town head coach, Muhsin Ertugral
JOHANNESBURG – THE Absa Premiership resumes on Friday with the two bottom placed sides- Ajax Cape Town and Bidvest Wits- in action against teams eager to finish in the lucrative top eight.
Wits, the struggling defending champions that anchor the 16-team league, will start the ball rolling the season with a home encounter against vastly-improved Free State Stars at Braamfontein in Johannesburg while 15th placed Ajax entertain Maritzburg United in Cape Town.
Wits are stuck at the bottom with 11 points from 14 matches. The visitors from the Free State have vastly improved and sit fifth with 22 points from 15 matches.
They are somewhat a bogey side for Wits.
It is unthinkable Wits, who romped to a historic title last season, would be potential candidates for relegation at the end of this season. Two wins, five draws and seven losses highlight their struggles this season.
Stars, who have won six, drawn four and lost five are buoyed by the possibility of moving to second position behind Mamelodi Sundowns for at least a day if they win on the road.
In Cape Town, newly appointed head coach Muhsin Ertugral would be eager to start his reunion with the young side by posting a victory over ninth-placed Maritzburg.
Ajax have secured a meager 13 points from 14 games.
Ertugral will be pinning his hopes of new signings- midfielder Gerald Takawara and prolific striker Tendai Ndoro- the Zimbabwean pair that have recently joined.
The coming of Ndoro is in particular expected to boost the morale of the club owing to his scoring prowess.
He previously worked with Ertugral at both Mpumalanga Black Aces and Orlando Pirates.
“I am very excited to work with Ndoro once more, in South Africa he will be a very valuable player to any team and I am confident he will do very well for us. He is the complete package, he has played overseas, performed for big clubs in the past and his experience will be a valuable asset,” Etugral said.
Four other matches will be played on Saturday while two more league games are set for Sunday.
Full fixture below
Friday, 5th January 2018
Bidvest Wits vs Free State Stars (20h00)
Ajax Cape Town vs Maritzburg United (20h00)
Saturday, 6th January 2018
Polokwane City vs Mamelodi Sundowns (15h30)
SuperSport United vs Kaizer Chiefs (18h00)
Orlando Pirates vs Baroka FC (20h15)
Platinum Stars vs Cape Town City FC (20h15)
Sunday, 7th January 2018
AmaZulu FC vs Chippa United (15h30)
Bloemfontein Celtic vs Golden Arrows (15h30).
– CAJ News
