Venda Football Academy (VFA) will play two Motsepe Foundation Championship League matches away from home within the space of five days. Their first fixture will be against MM Platinum FC, with whom they will lock horns at the Bidvest Stadium in Johannesburg on Friday afternoon (7^th).

Should they fail to beat Platinum, VFA will have only themselves to blame. Platinum started the season on a sad note. They managed to win only one of the five matches that they have played so far and shared the glory once. Their only victory was against JDR Stars, whom they had beaten 2-0 in their opening fixture of the season. Platinum are still battling to come to terms with last weekend’s 1-2 defeat at the hands of Pretoria Callies.

VFA will not come back home after their game against MM Platinum. Instead, they will drive to Kimberly on Saturday morning and start with preparations for their next match on Sunday morning. Their next fixture will be against Hungry Lions at the Galeshewe Stadium in Kimberly next Tuesday (11^th).

Hungry Lions are one of the close contenders for the league championship. The Northern Cape side are currently lying in the sixth position on the log standings with nine points from five outings. Should VFA manage to beat MM Platinum and hold Hungry Lions to a draw, they will most likely jump from the 11^th position to the 7^th spot on the log standings.

VFA will see the return for the team’s captain, Ricardo Versuur, in their game against Platinum. Versuur had watched his team’s last two games from the grandstand. He was given a red card in their game against Polokwane City three weeks ago. Should he be given a chance, Versuur is expected to form a good combination with Mxolisi Khoza and Nicholas Motloung at the back.

Elsewhere, Baroka FC will host Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC at the Global Stadium in Lebowakgomo on Saturday.