The two teams arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, from their midweek sojourns which saw Chiefs win for a third consecutive league game away in Durban against Amazulu, while Pirates returned from a nail-biting game against Santos in Cape Town. With their midweek victories, both teams have breathed new life into their title aspirations.

With their victories in midweek, more impetus has been placed on Saturday’s game. On Thursday morning, both camps were looking buoyant and were hopeful of Saturday’s game being one to remember.

The curtain comes down on the FNB Stadium with Chiefs playing their last ever game at the venue as tenants at the famed ground, as they will in future play their games at the new Amakhosi stadium. PSL chief executive officer, Trevor Phillips, has urged both teams to give the old lady that is FNB Stadium the perfect send off.

“To the teams and their supporters I would like to say, give the old lady the respect she deserves and let us give the stadium a truly spectacular send off before it undergoes renovation”.

Both sets of coaches are also aware of the high value placed in such a game as Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp explains it is all about fine-tuning “We have done the hard work last week it is now about the fine tuning getting this and that right, at this stage it is about getting the smaller things to fit in place” said the Chiefs coach.

Sitting beside The Amakhosi coach at a noon time press conference on Thursday was his Pirates counter part Milutin Sredojevic who himself is hoping to use Saturday’s game to revive his teams Premiership hopes.

“We want a win on Saturday in order to reawaken our ambition which is to win the league. At the moment our hopes are dormant, but with Wednesday’s win and hopefully another on Saturday we will be up and running again” added the Pirates coach.

Amakhosi coach Ernst Middendorp was also quick to play down talk of the fact that Chiefs have defeated Pirates in their last four meetings in all competitions, saying, “I am not one to look back at history. What has happened last season is in the past. Saturday’s game is a different issue and we want the win to continue our upward march. They want to do the same we will have our work cut so we cannot stand on past statistics to help us through”.

Amakhosi striker, David Radebe, who was on the score sheet for Chiefs on Wednesday evening against Amazulu, is aiming to find the back of the net for the third consecutive game. This after he scored in a league game against Black Leopards towards the end of November and followed it up with another goal on Wednesday.

“Pirates have a strong defence and playing against them will be challenging. We are expecting to work harder against Pirates than we did against Amazulu” commented Radebe.

Also looking forward to Saturday’s game is in-form Chiefs midfielder Scara Ngobese, who for various reasons missed out on all three of Chiefs victories over Pirates last season.

Speaking about the prospect of coming up against the highly talented Pirates midfield which could include the likes of Jabu Mahlangu, Stanton Fredericks, Onyekachi Okonkwo and, should he play, Benedict Vilakazi, Scara said “Last season I missed the first game against Pirates as I had to sit out due to suspension. Thereafter I missed the next league game and the ABSA Cup Final due to lack of form”.

The highly gifted midfielder is ready to make amends for missing out on last season's wins over Pirates, with a big performance on Saturday as he continued, saying “I have waited a whole year for this game. I feel ready for the challenge of Pirates I do not feel in any way intimidated by their midfield. For me and the other guys we are looking at this game as a challenge which we want to conquer”.

With more than 40 000 tickets already sold for Saturday’s high-profile game, the writing is on the wall that this is one game that should not be missed.

A meeting between Chiefs and Pirates is the one day in a year when the country is divided, straight down the middle and with so much at stake there can be no slip ups. As Chiefs hope to continue their recent dominance over their neighbours with a convincing win, which will give them a fourth straight league victory - a feat last achieved by Chiefs in their triumphant run in to the 2004 – 2005 season.

Chiefs Vs Pirates from inception of PSL in 1996 / 1997

1996/1997




Kaizer Chiefs 0 Orlando Pirates 1


Orlando Pirates 1 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Williams)

1997/1998


Orlando Pirates 1 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Williams 45’)


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Mooki 50’) Orlando Pirates 0

1998 / 1999


Kaizer Chiefs 0 Orlando Pirates 0


Orlando Pirates 1 Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Lebese 28’, 51)

1999 / 2000


Orlando Pirates 1 Kaizer Chiefs 0


Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Nomvete 1’, 60’) Orlando Pirates 2

2000 / 2001


Orlando Pirates 1 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Nomvete 81’)


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Mooki 28’) Orlando Pirates 0

2001 / 2002


Kaizer Chiefs 0 Orlando Pirates 3


Orlando Pirates 0 Kaizer Chiefs 0

2002 / 2003


Orlando Pirates 1 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Mussasa 56’)


Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Moshoeu 72’, Radebe 79’) Orlando Pirates 0

2003 / 2004


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Mussasa 90’) Orlando Pirates 0


Orlando Pirates 1 Kaizer Chiefs 0

2004 / 2005


Orlando Pirates 2 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Zwane 53’)


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Ngobese 6’) Orlando Pirates 1

2005 / 2006


Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Obua, Schalkwyk) Orlando Pirates 0


Orlando Pirates 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Obua)