Durban — Premiership side Maritzburg United will begin their quest to retain their top-flight status against Casric Stars in their opening match of the PSL promotion-relegation playoffs at Harry Gwala Stadium on Wednesday.
Maritzburg concluded the 2022-23 Premiership season with five points from their final three matches, a run that saw them scrape a 15th-place finish (ahead of Marumo Gallants) while snatching a lifeline with the playoffs against Cape Town Spurs and Casric Stars.
Both The Team of Choice and Casric Stars will head into the encounter with a little bit of pressure after Cape Town Spurs’ victory over Casric Stars saw them go top of the three-team standings.
Maritzburg coach Fadlu Davids was spotted among the crowd in the opening match of the playoffs as he looked to study opponents his side will face for the first time.
Casric Stars are undoubtedly one of the most enterprising teams in the Motsepe Foundation Championship and they showed this in their opening playoff game before going down to an Ashley Cupido goal in the 67th minute.
The Mpumalanga-based team’s form is a concern, considering their aspirations to ply their trade among the elite next season.
Casric Stars have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions, a victory that came against the University of Pretoria in the middle of April. Since then they've managed three draws in a row and one loss against Spurs last week.
For Maritzburg, things aren't looking too rosy either with a record not too dissimilar to Stars. Davids’ team also have one victory in their last six matches.
The hosts will feel like the favourites however in their own backyard against lower-league opposition.
Davids will look to the likes of Wayde Jooste and Amadou Soukouna for both experience and firepower upfront as he aims to kick off their playoff campaign with a victory.
Soukouna, with his eight goals in this season, was among the top 10 goal scorers in the 2022-23 Premiership season, a worrying stat if you're in the Casric Stars dugout.
IOL Sport