National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Black Leopards or Free State Stars that keep their silverware dream alive.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
Black Leopards form and stats
Last season their Nedbank Cup adventure ended in the quarter-finals.Black Leopards have collected 9 points from their First Division home games so far after 2-3-3.
Stress levels are on the rise for Leopards's attacking players as they have now played 330 minutes without scoring in a league game. Masia was their last goal scorer.
A draw after 90 minutes last time out for Leopards, who played 0-0 against Uthongathi. That match was also played at this venue
Prior to that was the away defeat visiting Jomo Cosmos (0-2).There's a new game coming up fairly quickly for Leopards as they are travelling to their away game against JDR Stars in the First Division. That match is four days after this one.
The lack of attacking qualities in Leopards means that they have only scored 4 goals in 8 league home games, less than half a goal per match. Leopards have only conceded 5 from their league home games. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Free State Stars form and stats
State's mission in Nedbank Cup last season failed in the 16th finals.3-2-2 is the win-draw-loss statistic for Free State Stars in their First Division matches away.
214 minutes! That's how long the State goalkeeper Boniface Arno Zoa and his defense have shut out their league opponents.
It's the second away game in a row for State, but there's smiles all around after the 2-0 victory versus TS Sporting in the First Division last time out.
Before that, State secured a home win against JDR Stars with the score 1-0.After this away game Free State Stars return home for a First Division game against Richards Bay. That game is only four sleeps after this.
Many goals are not expected from the visiting State as they have only managed to score 5 times from 7 away games in the league. Free State Stars are tighter than a frog's bottom, as only 3 away goals have been conceded so far.
Head 2 Head
As for the last ten games between these two teams, there's zero Leopards victories, three draws and seven Free State Stars wins. Over/under statistics; seven of these games ended with three goals or more, three matches with two goals or less.Top Goalscorers
  T. Thutlwa 5 goals |  M. Sekola 5 goals | M. Nkewana 2 goals |
Black Leopards missing players
Free State Stars missing players
| Black Leopards | Free State Stars | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Won | W | 5 | 11 | ||
| 9 | 6 | Drew | D | 4 | 7 | ||
| 11 | 3 | Lost | L | 3 | 7 | ||
| 16 | 8 | Scored | S | 9 | 27 | ||
| 27 | 8 | Conceded | C | 6 | 19 | ||
| 84% | 75% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 83% | 88% | ||
| 60% | 42% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 33% | 44% | ||
| 24% | 17% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 8% | 28% | ||
| 4% | 0% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 0% | 12% | ||
| 0% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 4% | ||
| 40% | 42% | BTTS | BTTS | 25% | 36% | ||
| 24% | 33% | Clean Sheets | C S | 50% | 44% | ||
| 52% | 50% | Failed to Score | F T | 42% | 32% | ||
| 3.3 | 4.5 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 2 | 2 | ||
| 5 | 3.8 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 2.5 | 2.5 | ||
| 1.4 | 1.2 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6.1 | 5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 7 | 7 | ||
| 1.9 | 2 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2 | 2 | ||
| 38% | 50% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 50% | 50% | ||
| 8 | 6 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 3 | 3 | ||
| 3.4 | 2.2 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | JDR Stars | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 29 |
| 2 | Richards Bay | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 28 |
| 3 | Uthongathi | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 25 |
| 4 | Cape Town All Stars | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 25 |
| 5 | Free State Stars | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 25 |
| 6 | Venda FC | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 25 |
| 7 | University of Pretoria | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 24 |
| 8 | Polokwane City | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 24 |
| 9 | Platinum City Rovers | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | -2 | 21 |
| 10 | Hungry Lions | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 21 |
| 11 | TTM | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | -6 | 19 |
| 12 | Ajax Cape Town | 16 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 19 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 12 | -4 | 17 |
| 12 | Real Kings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | TS Sporting | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 11 | -9 | 15 |
| 14 | Black Leopards | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 11 | -7 | 14 |
| 15 | Pretoria Callies | 15 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 16 | 18 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 8 | -2 | 13 |
| 16 | Jomo Cosmos | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 8 | -6 | 12 |