Preview: Kaizer Chiefs vs Bidvest Wits

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Kaizer Chiefs host Bidvest Wits with both teams looking to avoid their slow starts of the previous Absa Premiership campaign, writes DEAN WORKMAN.

After disappointing starts left both Amakhosi and the Clever Boys well off the pace in the league last campaign, they will both be looking for three points on Tuesday evening to help ensure they rectify the errors of the past.

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Both teams have made big changes in the off-season and the match will offer them an opportunity to continue their development.

Chiefs made a decent start to life under Giovanni Solinas with an opening day draw against defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns. There were many positives to take from the encounter for the Italian after his side gave as good as they got.

The performances of Siphelele Ntshangase and Khama Billiat, in particular, will increase optimism in a side that lacked an X-factor in the final third last season.

‘I am proud of my team. We played well and we could have won the match if we would have buried our chances,’ said Solinas on his side’s game against Downs.

‘I know what’s expected of me. When you join a big club like Chiefs, you know what you have to do and that is to win points. I am very happy with the professionalism of my team.

‘The players are working hard at training and that’s exactly what we need to do if we want to challenge for honours this season. We have a limited period to recover before our next game against Bidvest Wits. It promises to be another tough encounter, but we will be ready come Tuesday night,’ concluded the Chiefs coach.

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Wits, on the other hand, got their season off to a perfect start with a 3-0 win over Free State Stars with two of their debutants, Mxolisi Macuphu and Deon Hotto, getting on the scoresheet.

The 2016-17 Absa Premiership champions underwent a mass overhaul of their championship-winning squad in the off-season, bringing in 11 new players while shipping out nine of their former stars including the likes of Daine Klate and Vincent Pule.

The match against Chiefs will offer Wits coach Gavin Hunt a chance to test if his newly assembled side can match one of South Africa’s football giants.

Speaking on his side’s overhaul, Hunt said, ‘After what happened last season, do you not think what we have done was necessary? We learnt a hard lesson.

‘What we have done this year is reduce the size of the squad by three or four. Obviously, we can’t be judged on one game, but what we have done now, we should have done last season. We took too long to refresh the team and it was costly,’ Hunt explained.

On his side’s clash against the Soweto giants, Hunt said, ‘I don’t think they will be vulnerable at all. They have Billiat, who is very dangerous when play breaks and there’s a turnover of possession.

‘I don’t believe in this thing that there is a right time [to play Chiefs] for this and that. They will compete. They are the biggest team in South Africa, and they have players who have won trophies before, and have all that experience to help them do well,’ concluded Hunt.

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Last season, these sides played out to 1-1 draws in both of their Absa Premiership encounters. Looking further back to their last five meetings, Chiefs have been the more dominant side, winning two while Wits have won once.

Chiefs head into the encounter with a full complement of players available, although they will still be without new signing Andriamirado ‘Dax’ Andrianarimanana, who is awaiting a work permit. Wits are only without Granwald Scott and Daylon Claasen, who are long-term absentees.

Kaizer Chiefs will host Bidvest Wits on Tuesday night at the FNB Stadium, with kick-off at 7:30pm.

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Dean Workman