JVW vs Mamelodi Sundowns Preview: Blue Diamonds lay ambush for Brazillian Queens

By Itumeleng Banda, Johannesburg

JVW ladies FC will be on a quest to cause an upset to Mamelodi Sundowns ladies on Saturday as the Blue Diamonds will welcome the Brazillian Queens in a Hollywoodbets Super League encounter.

After edging Thunderbirds Ladies 1-0 on Saturday courtesy of Isabella Ludwig’s solitary effort, JVW did themselves a huge favour which saw them come three points behind Sundowns.

Victory at the Tsakane Stadium on Saturday will see the second placed hosts level on points with leaders Sundowns at the top of the standings after seven games in the current league campaign.

With six matches into the new season, the game between the two South African giants will be a useful exercise in determining who stand the brightest chance to claiming the league crown.

Both Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies and JVW are always expected to be a tightly contested top of the table affair as the two sides boast of a couple of international players.

For African fans and those across the globe, the game can be watched live via an online streaming as the JVW FC’s youtube and facebook channels are the places to be.

These two teams may be meeting for the first time in the Hollywoodbets Super League, but they sure are no strangers to each other, as the two sides have an existing history from the Sasol Women’s League that Ciara Picco’s troops may want to rewrite.

One of JVW’s most memorable encounter against Mamelodi Sundowns ladies dates back to August 2016 when JVW FC recorded a historic 2-1 victory in a stimulating Sasol League encounter.

Fast-forward five years later, the meeting of the two teams is still highly anticipated as JVW skipper Nompumelelo Nyandeni has described the upcoming encounter as a cup final.

“It’s going be a hard game and many people been waiting for this game,” Nyandeni told SavidNews.

“People start to talk about this game while we were playing in Sasol so it’s going to be like a Cup final, and we going to in the game as a underdogs.”

Without succumbing to the pressure of this encounter, JVW head coach Ciara Picco looks forward to the game with excitement not only for herself but also for her ladies who will go head to head against the current reigning champions.

“Feeling a good amount of pride that the girls have an opportunity to take on the champions. There’s a good mix of nerves and excitement too,” explains Picco.

Since the birth of a national football league for women in South Africa, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies have risen to the occasion with excellence and total dominance, as the Chloorkop side completed last season with a 100% winning record and are yet to taste defeat this season.

Going forward, Sundowns Ladies head coach Jerry Tshabalala has pinpointed that thorough preparation ahead of this match is what will work in their favor as every meeting between them and JVW has gone down to the wire.

“Look this is another tough game for us, it’s never an easy game whenever we play JVW,” Tshabalala told SavidNews.

“It always goes down to the wire and depends on which team prepared better than the other or should I say which coach got his or her tactics correct.”

The battle for points between number one and two on the Hollywoodbets Super league kicks off at 3pm CAT at the Tsakane Stadium on June 5. All eyes will be on this titanic clash to see who comes out tops when the encounter comes alive on the JVW FC Youtube and Facebook pages.

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