The match kicks off at 3pm
SuperSport ended third on the League table last season, just four points adrift of champions Orlando Pirates. The Pretoria club have finished in the top eight of the standings for the last 12 seasons running.
It has again been a busy winter on the transfer front for Matsatsantsa, who lost the likes of Morgan Gould and Tebogo Langerman, while veterans Ricardo Katza and Glen Salmon have retired.
Yet the club have brought in some fine talent, most notably George Maluleka, Clifford Mulenga and Roscoe Pietersen, to boost their squad depth.
Free State Stars ended last season sixth on the log, having kept pace with the title challengers throughout most of the campaign.
Ea Lla Koto have had an even more tumultuous off-season than United, losing significant players, like Ayanda Gcaba and Edward Manqele, but they have brought in a whole raft of unknown youngsters who should be eager to prove themselves.
SuperSport will be looking to improve on their recent showings in the MTN8, having been eliminated in the quarter-finals for the past three seasons. Their best showing came in 2008/09 when they reached the semi-finals, only to be eliminated by local rivals Mamelodi Sundowns.
SuperSport have won the Top 8 Cup once, in 2004, from three final appearances.
Stars' record in the MTN8 is a humble one. They were knocked out at the quarter-final stage in both the 2008/09 and 2009/10 editions, losing 1-0 to Sundowns and Golden Arrows respectively, and have not appeared in the competition since. They did appear in a Top 8 final back in 1996 when they were still known as QwaQwa Stars.
This MTN8 quarter-final will be just the third cup meeting of SuperSport and Stars. United won a 2005/06 Coca-Cola Cup tie 2-1, while Ea Lla Koto took home the spoils from a second round Nedbank Cup match in 2010/11.
In all competitions, the teams have met 34 times since 1991. Matsatsantsa have 12 wins to Stars' nine, while 13 matches have ended in draws.
SuperSport have a good home record against Stars and are unbeaten in the last six times they have hosted the Free State team.
The teams' last meeting was a League match at Lucas Moripe Stadium in February: a 1-1 draw with goals from Franklin Cale and Edward Manqele.
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