Danny Venter and Cilfford Mulenga of Bloemfontein Celtic
Bloemfontein Celtic will look to get back to winning ways when they host Orlando Pirates at the Free State Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Absa Premiership match will kick-off at 15h30.
After back-to-back goalless draws away to Moroka Swallows and home to Bidvest Wits in November, Celtic’s first match of December ended in a 2-0 defeat against Ajax Cape Town in the Mother City.
Clinton Larsen’s team has won just two of their last 11 Absa Premiership matches, but they are at least unbeaten in Bloemfontein with three wins and three draws recorded from their six home matches so far.
Phunya Sele Sele have dropped outside of the top half of the table and find themselves down in 10th place, a full 12 points off the pace of log leaders SuperSport United. Getting back into the top eight before the PSL takes a lengthy break will be their main aim in the next week.
Their opponents, Orlando Pirates, seem to have hit upon some good form in recent times. They come into this match having recorded back-to-back Absa Premiership wins over Ajax and SuperSport (the leaders’ first loss of the season) as well as a 3-1 triumph over Bidvest Wits in the final of the Telkom Knockout last weekend.
As the new title-holders of all four of the PSL’s trophies (MTN8, Telkom Knockout, Nedbank Cup and Absa Premiership), the Buccaneers will certainly head to the Free State full of confidence.
Not only does current form suggest Celtic have a tough task ahead of them on Sunday, so do the head-to-head stats. In 46 league games between the teams since 1985, Phunya Sele Sele have claimed just eight wins compared to Pirates’ 26.
Phunya Sele Sele have won just one of their last 12 league matches with Bucs, a 3-1 home triumph in the 2006/07 season. Last term Pirates took four points off Celtic, winning 2-1 in Soweto before a 1-1 draw in the return match.