The 2025/26 Betway Premiership season is officially underway, and Stellenbosch FC are adamant to make an early upset by collecting all three points against Kaizer Chiefs when the two sides meet at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town this evening.
Ahead of the match, Stellies coach Steve Barker said that opening their league campaign against Chiefs will be a good test for them and they will go all out for the day to get maximum points.
“It was good for us to start the season already with a competitive match [in the MTN8 quarterfinal against AmaZulu] because it puts us in a good state going into the big league encounter against Chiefs,” Barker said.
“It is obviously exciting to play them first, and the crowd will be out in their numbers, so our preparations have been going well, and we just must make sure that we pitch on the day, show the desire and commitment to fight for a massive three points.
“Getting maximum points will be massive for us because it will give us the belief, confidence, and get us up and running on the log. But we know that we will have to fight for those three points,” he added.
Indeed, Stellenbosch will have to fight for a result as they will be going up against an Amakhosi side that did a league double over them and beat them en route to lifting the Nedbank Cup title.
The Glamour Boys, though, missed out on the MTN8 for the second time in a row after finishing ninth last season, and coach Nasreddine Nabi has promised that his side will turn the tide and do better.
“For sure, we will be better than last season. It is a tough league, but we know where we have come and where we want to go, and we are looking forward to it. I won’t talk about the title, we will take it game by game,” Nabi said.
