The Team of Choice face Amakhosi at Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga on Sunday in the Telkom Knockout semifinals looking to stop a run of 10 matches without a win against the Soweto giants.
Tinkler is aware that for United to stop Chiefs it will demand more from each and every player in the team on the day and identifies one of Amakhosi's strongest assets who has helped them to appear unstoppable.
"We know how strong they are, they are having a great season. We know their confidence now is very high, but we need to go there and be brave, not play with fear," said Tinkler.
"I think they are playing differently to what they did last season, it's a different team so I don't think you can sit and compare, to be brutally honest, a lot of new faces.
"Samir Nurkovic has brought in something very different. I think they are a more direct team now then what they were in the past because of the height that he gives them up front.
"Same as Leonardo Castro, so I think the planning can't be the same like last season."
Tinkler admits he would have preferred to face high-flying Chiefs at Soccer City because of their recent poor record.
"Yeah Kaizer Chiefs wherever they go it's a home game for them," he added.
"I think their record at FNB Stadium isn't great, we would've preferred to play them there, but yeah Mbombela I like it, I think it's a fantastic stadium.
"The surface from the last game I saw played there, the surface is going to be great which will help us to play. I think it's going to be an entertaining game."