Cape Town Spurs and Mamelodi Sundowns players fight for a ball in a DStv Premiership match. Cape Town Spurs are involved a do-or-die battle with Richards Bay on Friday night. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers
Cape Town Spurs host Richards Bay on Friday in a crucial DStv Premiership match that could have a massive bearing in the fight to avoid relegation.
Bottom side Spurs need to win to keep their hopes alive of staving off automatic relegation. They are currently eight points adrift of 15th-placed Richard Bay and defeat in the Mother City will basically seal their fate.
Richards Bay, on the other hand, are still fighting to catch Moroka Swallows and even AmaZulu above them to try and move away from the promotion-relegation play-off position.
IOL Sport’s John Goliath looks at the bottom four teams’ chances of avoiding the dreaded drop to the second tier of the PSL.
Remaining Fixtures:
Chippa United (H)
Richards Bay (A)
Kaizer Chiefs (H)
Sekhukune United (A)
Golden Arrows (H)
Stellenbosch FC (A)
AmaZulu look comfortable in 13th place, and need two more points to get to the magic 30-point mark. Their league form has been erratic over the last few months, as they seem to follow up every good win with a defeat. Unless they have en epic meltdown, AmaZulu should live to fight another day when the points are tallied up at the end of the season.
Remaining fixtures:
TS Galaxy (A)
Chippa United (A)
Stellenbosch FC (H)
SuperSport United (A)
Royal AM (H)
Cape Town City (A)
It’s been a grind for Swallows ever since the pay dispute with their players towards the end of 2023. A 1-0 defeat at the hands of Richard Bay looked like a telling blow, but they managed a crucial 2-2 draw against Mamelodi Sundowns last week to give them a bit more breathing space. However, another few slip-ups could see them look over their shoulder once more.
Richards Bay (15th, 20 points, -13 goal difference)
Remaining fixtures:
Cape Town Spurs (A)
AmaZulu (H)
Orlando Pirates (A)
Cape Town City FC (A)
Stellenbosch FC (H)
Polokwane City (A)
Richards Bay could essentially take a big step away from automatic relegation if they can get the job done against Spurs. A win will give an 11-point buffer while also putting pressure on Swallows, who have a tough assignment away to against TS Galaxy also on Friday night. Victories in their last two matches against Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs have certainly given them a bit of momentum.
Cape Town Spurs (16th, 12 points, -23 goal difference)
Remaining fixtures:
Richards Bay (H)
Polokwane City (H)
SuperSport United (A)
Golden Arrows (A)
Kaizer Chiefs (H)
Royal AM (A)
Spurs are staring down the barrel after losing their last four league matches. In fact, their last win came at home to TS Galaxy on March 3, and they have only two draws to show for their efforts in their last six matches. The match against Richards Bay is essentially a six-pointer, one they simply have to win to keep their survival hopes alive.
@JohnGoliath82
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