THE Christmas recess can’t come soon enough for both Baroka FC and SuperSport United.
Both teams are itching to go into the break for different reasons.
The Limpopo-based outfit were on top of the Absa Premiership table for two-and-half months, but now find themselves in the middle of the table with no win in seven matches.
Fatigue and early season expectations appear to have taken their toll on Baroka.
Baroka coach Kgoloko Thobejane is going into the game with more pressure than his counterpart at the Tshwane giants, Eric Tinkler.
Thobejane is under fire and rumour has it he may be fired if things don’t change.
On the other hand, the Tshwane giants have not been their usual selves since their Caf Confederation Cup adventure ended last month.
Since they resumed their Premiership catch-up programme, they haven’t won a league game in three outings.
SuperSport’s participation in club African football appears to have taken its toll on the players.
They scrapped to an unconvincing 1-0 over Ajax Cape Town.
That was followed by a 1-1 draw against Cape Town City and they forced a 95th minute equaliser in stoppage time.
In their third game since the Caf cup final, where they lost 2-1 on aggregate to TP Mzambe of the DR Congo, Matsatsantsa suffered a 1-0 defeat to Free State Stars.
Both teams will be looking to end their winless run in the Premiership when the Limpopo-based outfit host the Tshwane giants in a league game at Peter Mokaba Stadium today (3.30pm).
Baroka conceded seven goals in their past two matches when they crushed to a 4-0 defeat to log leaders, Mamelodi Sundowns, and suffered another heavy loss when they were hammered 3-0 by Maritzburg United.
Baroka are seventh on the log with 19 points from 14 games, while Matsatsantsa a Pitori are 11th with 15 points from nine games.
It’s Baroka’s last game of the year and they can’t afford to go into the Christmas recess with another bad result.
Matsatsantsa a Pitori will conclude their year in a catch-up game against Bloemfontein Celtic in the Free State on Wednesday night.
Games will come in thick and fast for SuperSport as they have to play catch-up with the rest of the teams in the league.
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