Sundowns wary of in-form Pirates

MAMELODI Sundowns midfielder Neo Maema has revealed that he and his teammates are wary of the kind of danger a ‘highly confident’ Orlando Pirates possess.

The two clubs will meet for the fourth time in all competitions tomorrow with both sides having laid gloves on each other.

The Buccaneers were responsible for dumping the defending champions out at the semi-final stage of the MTN8 cup over two legs at the beginning of the season before going on to win the prestigious competition.

The Brazilians also had their moment when they dispatched the Sea Robbers in their league encounter, seemingly re-establishing their long-standing dominance over the Soweto side.

Since then Sundowns have gone on to build a 21-point gap at the top of the DStv Premiership standings, 24 ahead of Pirates, and they look destined for another league crown.

Pirates, though, have seemingly found their groove in front of goal of late and have recorded three successive victories while scoring nine goals.

Maema believes the occasion and Pirates’ form makes them a dangerous opponent.

“As a team, we’re expecting a highly motivated opponent, we know we’re playing a big team so no-one actually needs motivation when it comes to such games,” said Maema.

“We’re expecting them to come (at us) more because they’ve also gotten into their confidence zone and their players have also gelled so I think we can expect a very difficult match and a highly motivated opponent.”

Maema has had quite the season himself individually and has established himself as a regular starter in a highly competitive Sundowns squad, a testament to him stepping up his game this campaign.

The 27-year-old primarily operates in central midfield, facilitating both defensive and offensive triggers for Sundowns.

One element of his game he has worked on this term is his goal-scoring and he has reaped the rewards on five occasions this season, his most memorable strike coming against Kaizer Chiefs two weeks ago.

Maema revealed that he expects Pirates fans to play a huge role in how the run of play goes on the day but reaffirmed that Sundowns already have plans in place to deal with those permutations.

“One thing about Pirates is that the supporters are going to be behind them because they’re playing at home so it’s not going to be foreign for them to pile numbers up front because their supporters will encourage that but we have our own goals and methods to deal with that,” he explained.