Cape Town City FC and Royal AM will lock horns in the Carling Knockout tournament after they were defeated by Mamelodi Sundowns recently. The Citizens lost in their last league match, but coach Eric Tinkler remains confident ahead of his team’s cup tie. Among the changes, Tinkler urged them to avoid making mistakes and increase their overall performance in preparations for the match.
The Carling Knockout tournament has already served up some drama as the defending champions, Stellenbosch FC started their title defense by beating AmaZulu. The competition has had quite many goals and produced a major upset and thus, prepared a interesting clash between Cape Town City and Royal AM.
In recent years, Cape Town City has not set a very great pace in the league and this makes it very hard for the team to be very consistent. However, the cup competition gives the Citizens a new chance and they might go far in the competition should they wish to. Tinkler has been carrying out exercises with his team in hope of correcting mistakes that have cost them in previous games, matters of defense and attack.
The match against Royal AM is a tasking test for Cape Town City, given that the KwaZulu-Natal based side has displayed glimpses of the kind of form in their recent games. Royal AM will be least expecting a miracle because of the guidance of the team coach John Maduka. The match is set to go down to the wire, more so because both teams will be aiming high for a win in Carling Knockout.
Cape Town City could benefit from the home-ground advantage and the fan support we have seen in the Cape Town Stadium. The Citizens have usually brightened their home best against their fanatical fans, and that should be the difference telling of Royal AM. The team’s striker, Khanyisa Mayo, and midfielder, Thabo Nodada, have to deliver their best to get a good result.
The Carling Knockout tournament continues to churn out some upsets; there was the shocker of Orlando Pirates being booted out in the first round. This uncertainty has the effect of further spicing up the rivalry and is perhaps the cup football makers reminding the football public that the beautiful game can boil down to any team on any given day. The City of Cape Town team will be very careful not to fall into a similar trap and will go to the match against Royal AM with a lot of fierceness.
At this crucial encounter, the whole of Cape Town gets to hold its breath in excitement for the coming of the citizens. Audiences of football in the Mother City are now waiting eagerly for the starting whistle hour, with the prospect of seeing the team move to the next round of the Carling Knockout. It also means that Cape Town City has a great opportunity to move to the next stage of the tournament and also has the chance to gather momentum for the remaining league matches.
The cup victory has proved beneficial to the team since, as Coach Tinkler has noted, a good cup run helps a team gain confidence on the field. The Carling Knockout has all the potential to help Cape Town City as they are a team struggling somewhere in the middle of the table and they want to move up and get into the top four and maybe challenge for the title.
During the stand-alone match day, the teams prepare for the closing match and complete their preparatory and tactical plans. The clash of fortunes in this match could, therefore, determine the destiny of the two teams, thus undoubtedly among the football fixtures that no South African football lover would want to afford to miss. Here is what everyone needs to know about the encounter as two teams go head to head in the much anticipated Carling Knockout tournament: