Having already kicked off the 2020-21 CAF Champions League group stage campaign at home on Tuesday in a 0-0 draw against Guinean side Horoya, Chiefs’ next game in Group C sees them head to Burkina Faso to face Moroccan club Wydad Casablanca on Sunday on neutral ground.

The game between Wydad and Chiefs postponed from its earlier date of 13 February, will see the sides go head-to-head for the first time in the Burkinabe capital on Sunday at the sprawling 4 August Stadium.

While this is Chiefs’ first game against Wydad, they previously faced Wydad’s rivals Raja Casablanca at the Imposing Mohammed V Stadium over two legs in the first round of the 2015 CAF Champions League. Amakhosi lost the first leg of that tie on 14 March 2015 in Durban 1-0 and then on 5 of April 2015 lost the second leg in Casablanca 2-0 for a 3-0 aggregate score. That is Chiefs only previous meetings against Moroccan opponents in CAF Club competition.

Wydad is coached by the experienced Tunisian Faouzi Benzarti who led Esperance Sportive de Tunis of his homeland to the 1994 CAF Champions League title. They will be facing South African opponents in the CAF Champions League for a fifth season in a row. Their meeting with Chiefs will be their 11th against a DStv Premiership team, although all 10 of their previous games in the competition against a South African team have been against Sundowns. Wydad’s record in those 10 games against Sundowns reads W4 D3 L3. They are yet to lose at ‘home’ against a South African club with a home record of W4 D1 L0 – they are also yet to win in South Africa.

Chiefs in the meantime will be playing just their second CAF Champions League tie in West Africa although they are facing North African opponents. Chiefs’ only previous trip in the CAF Champions League to the west of the continent saw them draw 0-0 against ASEC Mimosa of Cote D’Ivoire in a first round second leg clash in 2016. Chiefs lost the tie 1-0 on aggregate against ASEC after a 1-0 loss in the first leg. Chiefs also played ASEC in the play-off rounds of the 2014 CAF Confederations Cup. A 2-1 home loss in the first leg was followed by a 1-0 away lost in the Cote D’Ivoire.

Last season Wydad went winless against South African opponents in the form of Sundowns in the group stages drawing their first game in December 2019 at home 0-0, while the Brazilians defeated them in February 2020 in the return leg.

Chiefs will be looking for a positive result in Group C before their next two games against Angolan team Petro de Luanda which will be in Johannesburg on 6 March. Chiefs drew their opening game 0-0 against Horoya of Guinea, while Wydad began with a 1-0 away win against Petro de Luanda in Angola.

Amakhosi are currently six games undefeated in the CAF Champions League, having avoided defeat in all five of the games in the competition this season, Chiefs have also won both of their away games by a 1-0 score-line. Those matches were against PWD Bamenda of Cameroon in the Preliminary round first leg, while they defeated Angolan side Primeiro de Agosto 1-0 in the second leg of their First-Round clash in Luanda to progress to the group stages.

Sunday’s game at the 4 August 1983 Stadium in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou will kick off at 19:00 hrs EAT.

Soka25east.com