Sundowns are not willing to relinquish their hefty lead as the league season resumes

Johannesburg — Mamelodi Sundowns might be cruising in the inside lane in the title race, but that does not mean they are willing to take the foot off the gas.

That’s what they will be willing to do when they take on Baroka FC at the Old Peter Mokaba on Monday night.

After a long break due to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), the second half of the DStv Premiership campaign will be in full swing this week. But Sundowns will be playing in their second league game of the year after hosting Chippa United.

However, that was astonishingly one of the Brazilians’ three games in a space of a week after beating Richards Bay and Al Hilal in the Nedbank Cup last 32 and the Champions League away in KwaMashu and at home in Rustenburg respectively.

But despite the heavy schedule do not expect the Brazilians to suffer from fatigue. After all, they bolstered their squad with the trio Bradley Ralani, Teboho Mokoena and Erwin Saveedra to ensure they compete on all fronts this term.

“I wouldn’t really anticipate fatigue at this stage from our group,” Mngqithi said. “But we are going in for a very big fight. They’ve got nothing to lose. They are pushing to get out of the relegation zone. And naturally they’ll be willing to give anything.”

There's quite a number of teams who probably envy Sundowns' top spot and 17-point lead in the top -flight. And one of those being rivals Kaizer Chiefs who've endured a rollercoaster season under coach Stuart Baxter in the last few months.

Following the outbreak of Covid-19 at the Village, which resulted in them forfeiting two matches in December, Chiefs endured another turbulent start in the year as they were bundled out of the Nedbank Cup by hoodoo side TS Galaxy.

That defeat all but confirmed the