Black Leopards will be aiming to cement their place in the Absa Premiership when they host Ajax Cape Town, who are chasing a top eight berth, at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday afternoon, kick-off at 15h00.

Leopards had all but guaranteed themselves a place in next season’s top flight when they were 2-0 up against Jomo Cosmos in midweek, but they allowed two late goals to be conceded and only ended up drawing the game 2-2.

That means that the Limpopo side, placed 14th on the log, could yet be forced into the promotion/relegation playoffs by Santos, who are just two points behind in 15th place. If Santos win their match at home to already-relegated Cosmos and Leopards fail to beat Ajax, then it will be Lidoda Duvha and not the People’s Team competing in the playoffs.

On the first league meeting earlier this season it was a seven-goal thriller between the two teams in Cape Town that ended 4-3 in favour of the Urban Warriors. Seeing as the two teams have conceded well over 100 league goals between them this season, it’s unlikely to be a defensive showcase, and a goal-laden game could well be on the cards again.

Ajax have the edge when it comes to head-to-head stats, with seven wins (compared to five for Leopards) from the teams’ 15 league meetings since 2001/02. Lidoda Duvha have not won a home league game against Ajax since way back in 2002/03.

But Tiyane Mabunda who plays in the Midfield positions seems to have a different view on the outcome of this game. “The game against Ajax will be nothing but a tough game as it will be the decider for both teams on different reasons. We know that Ajax will attack us just as much as we are going to bring the game to them,” cited Mabunda.

He mentions the fact that the opportunity they had to stay safe against Cosmos was lost and it was disappointing to the player’s but at the same time it served as a wakeup call.

“The last game we were very disappointed but at practice we worked on the mistakes and we should be more focused on the next game. Another factor that will help us is that we can work under pressure just like we are doing in the CAF Confederations. This game is a must win and that is what we are going to do, win,” concluded the youngster.