Chilli Boys face Pirates away in Betway Premiership opener

Their opening fixture of the new Betway Premiership season will be a baptism of fire for Chippa United.

The Gqeberha side open their league campaign against Soweto giants Orlando Pirates at the Orlando Stadium on September 14 (5.30pm).

Chippa then host Richards Bay at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in their second match on September 21.

That fixture will be followed by a weekday clash with Sekhukhune United on September 25 at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium.

The team will once again travel to the Mbombela Stadium on September 28 where they will meet TS Galaxy.

Their second home game is against Golden Arrows at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on October 26.

Chilli Boys executive director Lukhanyo Mzinzi said the opening five fixtures would be challenging.

However, he was adamant his troops would collect the necessary points to boost the team’s morale going forward.

“We open the season against Pirates, who finished second last year and are the MTN8 defending champions.

“Away will not be an easy match,” Mzinzi said.

“They defeated us last season in the league and the Nedbank Cup, but we have won at the Orlando Stadium before so we will be going there with a winning mentality.

“Our second match against Richards Bay at home will also be a tricky one.

“They were fighting relegation last season and we beat them at home.

“This season, they have a new sponsor, coach and players, but we will fight to get our first home win at the NMB Stadium.”

Chippa finished in 12th position on the PSL log last season with 34 points from 30 games.

Mzinzi said the Chilli Boys were looking to improve on that.

“This season, we plan to do better than our previous season. We are looking forward to the season leagues.

“We have made a couple of changes to our team, having signed new players with a mixture of experience and youth.

“This promises to be an exciting season.”

The remainder of the season’s league fixtures are yet to be released.

HeraldLIVE