Drought-breaker or record-breaker

On Saturday, we see Kaizer Chiefs in their first cup final since 2021. After a league season which has already seen 12 losses in 26 rounds of action, this has not been a campaign to remember for coach Nasreddine Nabi. A victory in the final would completely alter how this season is viewed and end the much-discussed decade-long trophy drought.

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However, Jose Riveiro has won five straight matches against Chiefs as Pirates coach and clearly has Nabi's number, as things stand today. He is determined to win a sixth major honour before he sails off into the sunset after a glorious three years. In this preview, we look at the key battles which could decide the match, Amakhosi's problems in the defensive areas, Bucs' big calls and whether Nabi should change his midfield formation to help cause an upset.

Last Saturday's stats recap

It is rare to have two derbies in seven days, so let's start with a stats summary from the 2-1 Pirates win at FNB Stadium last Saturday. On the possession side of things, Chiefs had 56% of the ball overall but a mighty 63% in the first half. Despite managing 98 first half passes in Bucs' half, they only mustered two shots in that opening stanza. In the second half, it was one attempt in 45 minutes for Amakhosi, whereas Pirates had seven efforts and three on target.

Chiefs did not manage to win a single corner after half time and had just three touches in the Bucs box from the 46th minute onwards... where Pirates had 13 touches in Amakhosi's 18-area in the second stanza. Jose Riveiro's side were also smarter in breaking up play, committing 18 fouls, whereas Nabi's team only infringed five times.

Whilst Chiefs hit the woodwork once, it was six shots inside the box for the Sea Robbers and just two for Chiefs.

On the Expected Goals metric, Amakhosi produced just 0.24 xG to Pirates' 1.05 xG. Whilst the match was no classic, Bucs did enough to win and just about deserved it.

Key battles

Nkosinathi Sibisi vs Wandile Duba