With the 2008 MTN Africa Cup of Nations taking place from January 20 to February 10 in Ghana, teams and those players not competing for their nations in West Africa will get a much needed break after what has been a hectic first half of the campaign.
The action kicks off on Friday evening where BidVest Wits will look to continue their good home form in Johannesburg when they host Moroka Swallows.
The Birds have red hot striker James Chamanga in their arsenal (eight goals in his last three games), but the Clever Boys’ Brazilian forward Marcos de Jesus has shown signs of returning to his devastating best.
Saturday sees five fixtures take place, starting off with Mamelodi Sundowns’ tricky trip to Bethlehem to take on Free State Stars. Ea Lla Koto recently lost their 100 percent home record to Swallows, but they remain mightily difficult opponents in the intimidating Goble Park Stadium and the Brazilians, after a home defeat to Platinum Stars in midweek, will do well to come away with three points.
Two struggling teams, Jomo Cosmos and Thanda Royal Zulu, will compete for three precious points at Ackerville Stadium before the evening games get underway, the undoubted pick of which is Bloemfontein Celtic’s trip to Atteridgeville where they will face Supersport United.
Both are slick teams with pretensions of winning the Absa Premiership and they should provide royal entertainment at the Super Stadium.
In the other Saturday evening fixtures, Ajax Cape Town will look to retain their position at the head of the league table when they host Golden Arrows at Athlone, while Kaizer Chiefs will go in search of just their fourth league win this season when Black Leopards visit Loftus Stadium.
And finally, the Premiership is wrapped for the year 2007 when Platinum Stars host an in-form Santos at Olympia Park in Rustenburg and AmaZulu have the difficult task of holding off Owen Da Gama’s title-chasing Orlando Pirates, who will be hungry for all three points after two consecutive draws.
Friday, December 21BidVest Wits v Moroka Swallows - BidVest Stadium, 20h00
Saturday, December 22 Free State Stars v Mamelodi Sundowns - Goble Park, 15h30 Jomo Cosmos v Thanda Royal Zulu - Ackerville Stadium, 15h30 SuperSport United v Bloemfontein Celtic - Super Stadium, 19h30 Ajax Cape Town v Golden Arrows - Athlone Stadium, 19h30 Kaizer Chiefs v Black Leopards - Loftus Stadium, 19h30
Sunday, December 23 Platinum Stars v Santos - Olympia Park, 15h30 AmaZulu v Orlando Pirates - Princess Magogo, 15h30
