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AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco feels Kaizer Chiefs have improved and grown under his old rival, Nasreddine Nabi, albeit suggesting Usuthu were still capable of upsetting the apple cart.
AmaZulu, who lost their opening league game of the campaign 2-1 away to Polokwane City nearly two weeks ago, host Chiefs in their second Betway Premiership fixture of the current term at Moses Mabhida Stadium tonight (7.30pm).
Franco and Nabi are no strangers to squaring off as they concurrently coached Tanzanian giants Simba and Yanga respectively in the past. In the 2021/22 campaign, Franco’s Simba finished as runners-up in the Tanzanian league title race with 61 points, 13 behind Nabi’s Yanga, who were crowned champions. Nabi won his official maiden game at Chiefs, beating Marumo Gallants 2-1 away almost a fortnight ago as well.
“I like them [Chiefs]. I think they’ve improved from last season. I know the current coach [Nabi] very well because I played against him in Africa [in Tanzania] and he’s been successful wherever he goes. I think they also signed good players in positions where they had weaknesses, and in the places where they weren’t so weak, they managed to create competition and that makes a team grow,” Franco said.
“I like their style of play. We know about their quality collectively and individually, but we also know what we are capable of and our quality when we’re facing these kinds of teams. They are a good team, the same as us. I think we will have all the ingredients to see a great show.”
Fixtures
Today: Stellenbosch v CPT City, Athlone (7.30pm); AmaZulu v Chiefs, Moses Mabhida (7.30pm); SuperSport v Galaxy, TUT (7.30pm); Sekhukhune v Chippa, Peter Mokaba (7.30pm); Arrows v Magesi, Mpumalanga (7.30pm).
Saturday: Chiefs v Sundowns, FNB (3pm); Sekhukhune v Arrows, Peter Mokaba (3pm); Magesi v Royal, Old Peter Mokaba (5.30pm); CPT City v SuperSport, Athlone (8pm); Gallants v AmaZulu, Free State (8pm).
Sunday: Chippa v Galaxy, Buffalo City (3pm); Bay v Pirates, King Zwelithini (3pm); Polokwane v Stellenbosch, Old Peter Mokaba (5.30pm)
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