The release of the 2025/26 Betway Premiership fixtures will have had Nasreddine Nabi looking up Kaizer Chiefs’ weekend fixture with a scratch of his head.
Chiefs travel to the coastal this weekend where they find Golden Arrows rubbing their hands in anticipation at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday (17h30).
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Arrows has not been AmaKhosi’s favourite opposition since Nabi took over.
This is the fixture which has already placed Nabi as the first and only ever coach in the history of Chiefs in the PSL to lose home and away in the league during the same season.
Chiefs lost 1-0 in the home tie last season and then fell 2-1 in the away match.
For emphasis purposes, this was the first time that Chiefs lost both league games against Arrows – through their top league history – with the same coach calling the shots for AmaKhosi.
The previous occasions that Arrows won home and away, Chiefs changed coaches.
The first was in October 2002 with Muhsin Ertugral in charge at Chiefs and by the time Abafana Bes’thende won the second game it was Doctor Khumalo and Ace Khuse in charge.
When Arrows did the double over Chiefs again in the 2021/22 season, it was against Stuart Baxter and then Arthur Zwane.
While Chiefs have started with three wins and a draw plus no goals conceded, the match against Arrows will place Nabi in discomfort.
Arrows is the only club that Nabi has not known a win or draw against.
To keep Chiefs moving, the Tunisian Belgian needs to avoid another defeat like was the case in the two games last season.
Arrows have previously been the first club to breach the Chiefs after another solid defensive start.
It happened in the 2003/04 season when they drew 1-1 with Arrows after avoiding conceding in the first three games of the season.
Nabi will go into the match against Arrows after a goalless draw with Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday which he felt they deserved to have won.
"I think it was a very good game of football.
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"But I believe without lacking respect for the opponent, I feel like we deserved to get more, the three points, especially when we tried more higher to get in the front foot, but we unfortunately couldn’t finish it with situations we created.
"It was a very good game, very intense 90 minutes with two good teams but we couldn’t offer the three points to our fans," says Nabi.
Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
