The South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) is back and to kick it off is a game against the champions Mamelodi Sundowns against the team that finished second, AmaZulu. These teams haven’t really had an off-season, with the new campaign starting just over two months after the last. Sundowns already have silverware to show going into the new season, after winning the MTN8 Cup. They beat Kaizer Chiefs on post match penalties after a 2-2 draw and armed with a fine scoring run, they will be confident of a winning start to the league. Sundowns have scored two or more goals in four of their last five matches and kept three clean sheets. They will still have concerns about the defence, having led 2-0 against Chiefs after 23 minutes but it ended 2-2. Peter Shalulile has been a star performer for the team, scoring five goals in the last four matches and will be a man in focus here. Sundowns lost one game all season in the PSL last season and with a five-game unbeaten against AmaZulu, they’ll be confident of a good start here.

AmaZulu, on the other hand, opened their season with a 2-1 loss to Cape Town City in the MTN8 Cup. They are on a run of just one win in the last five matches, and have three losses in the process while failing to score in three. AmaZulu lost six league matches last season, and finished 13 points behind Sundowns. If they are to go a step higher, they’ll need to improve on among other things, their attack. They haven’t scored more than one goal in the last six matches. Defensively, they have shown good solidity, conceding more than a goal in just one of their last 18 matches, and that came in the 2-1 loss to Cape Town City in the most recent game. AmaZulu haven’t scored an away goal in the last two outings.



译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

南非超级足球联赛(PSL)回来了，开始的是一场与冠军马梅洛迪日落队的比赛，对手是排名第二的球队阿玛祖鲁队。这些球队并没有真正的休赛期，新赛季在上个赛季结束两个多月后就开始了。在赢得MTN8杯之后，日落队已经在新赛季中获得了银杯。在2-2战平凯泽酋长队后，他们在点球大战中击败了凯泽酋长队，并凭借一轮出色的进球，他们将有信心在联赛中取得胜利。日落队在最近的五场比赛中有四场进了两个或两个以上的球，并保持了三场不失球。他们仍然担心防守，在对阵酋长队23分钟后2-0领先，但最终以2-2结束。沙卢莱是球队的明星球员，在过去的四场比赛中打进了五球，他将是球队的焦点人物。上个赛季，日落队在PSL整个赛季只输了一场比赛，在对阿祖鲁的五场不败中，他们有信心在这里有一个好的开始。

另一方面，在MTN8杯比赛中，阿玛祖鲁以2-1输给了开普敦。在过去的五场比赛中，他们只赢了一场，并在这一过程中输了三场，其中三场没有进球。上个赛季，阿祖鲁输掉了6场联赛，比日落队落后13分。如果他们想要更上一层楼，他们就需要在其他方面有所改进，比如进攻。在过去的六场比赛中，他们没有进过一个以上的球。防守方面，他们表现出了良好的稳定性，在过去的18场比赛中，他们仅在一场比赛中失球超过一球，最近的一场比赛中，他们以2-1输给了开普敦。阿玛祖鲁在最近的两场比赛中都没有在客场进球。