Orlando Pirates, with a sharpened attack, lie in wait for Algerian visitors JS Saoura

Cape Town — Orlando Pirates will need to sharpen their attack to ensure the team makes a winning start to the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup campaign on Sunday when they host Algerian visitors JS Saoura at Orlando Stadium (kick-off 6pm).

The dearth of precision upfront and the lack of firepower in the striking zone have given the team's technical staff cause for concern. Despite a high work rate, the team hasn't taken advantage of scoring opportunities.

These problem areas are things that Pirates' brains trust would have been working on for the past few days. One solution may be to field Namibian international Deon Hotto in a central attacking role rather than him making plays in the wider channels and providing feeds into the goalmouth.

Last week, Hotto played a blinder against AmaZulu and scored the only goal of the match with a set-piece move, which he finished off with a strike from plumb in front of goal. He looked at home in the central position.

Pirates’ other concern will be their vulnerability to the long ball when opposition teams counterattack.

Saoura's strength this season have been their star midfield duo Aimeni Lahmri and Belaid Hamidi. They have a penchant for scoring goals from deep options. Collectively, they have already bagged 15 goals across several competitions this season.

The Algerians arrived in South Africa on the back of excellent form after winning three of their last five matches in their domestic league. Saoura, second on the Ligue 1 standings, warmed up for the Pirates match with a goalless draw against Arbaa in the Algerian Ligue 1 last Sunday.

Saoura's chances of doing well against Pirates have taken a knock because of injuries to experienced right-back Oussama Meddahi defensive