Benghazi Face Pirates in First CAF Club Match in Libya since 2010

Namibia and Orlando Pirates winger Deon Hotto (L) playing against South Africa in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. (AFP)
Namibia and Orlando Pirates winger Deon Hotto (L) playing against South Africa in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. (AFP)
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Benghazi Face Pirates in First CAF Club Match in Libya since 2010

Namibia and Orlando Pirates winger Deon Hotto (L) playing against South Africa in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. (AFP)
Namibia and Orlando Pirates winger Deon Hotto (L) playing against South Africa in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. (AFP)

Al Ahly Benghazi will become the first Libyan club since 2010 to host a CAF club match when they tackle South African visitors Orlando Pirates Sunday in the Confederation Cup.

Deadly violence in the post-Moammar al-Gaddafi era forced Libyan national teams and clubs to stage home matches in other north African countries, mostly Tunisia and Egypt.

A recent United Nations-supervised deal has restored calm to the country and Benghazi hosted an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tunisia last week.

Here, AFP Sport previews matchday 3 in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League with the first and second seeds in the four groups meeting.

Group A
Former Pirates star Joseph Makhanya has advised German coach Josef Zinnbauer to sharpen his attack and lay siege to the Benghazi goalmouth in pursuit of maximum points.

Makhanya told the Sowetan newspaper that the experiment of using Namibia winger Deon Hotto as a central forward must end, and he wants Tshegofatso Mabasa and Malawian Frank Mhango chosen as a twin strike force.

"The way Pirates have been playing is like going to war and leaving your weapons at home," said Makhanya of a team that has netted seven times in five CAF matches this season.

Group B
Title-holders Renaissance Berkane of Morocco will look to 35-year-old Mouhcine Iajour for goals as they seek to bounce back from a loss at Coton Sport of Cameroon when they host leaders JS Kabylie of Algeria.

The Orange Boys have scored four goals in their latest African campaign and three have come from the veteran forward, who played in Switzerland, Belgium, Qatar and Saudi Arabia before returning home.

It is win or bust for bottom club NAPSA Stars of Zambia when they host a Coton team with an impressive CAF away record this season of three wins from four matches.

Group C
The clash between Etoile Sahel and frontrunners CS Sfaxien in Rades pits Tunisian clubs with outstanding Confederation Cup records against each other.

Sfaxien have won the competition a record three times and Etoile twice and both have also been runners-up since the competition launched in 2004.

Both sides hope leading scorers -- Souleymane Coulibaly of Etoile and Firas Chaouat of Sfaxien -- can put recent barren outings behind them.

Group D
Something has to give when Raja Casablanca of Morocco face Pyramids of Egypt as they are the only clubs among the 16 in the group phase with 100 percent records after two matchdays.

Both north African outfits have beaten Namungo of Tanzania and Nkana of Zambia to create a six-point gap between them and their rivals.

Soufiane Rahimi is an in-form Raja attacker while nine of the Pyramids team have scored at least once, including Burkinabe Eric Traore, Palestinian Mahmoud Wadi and Uruguayan Diego Rolan.



Slot Downplays Man United's Low Placing, Saying He Will Not Sit Out Players for Clash

Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - December 29, 2024 Liverpool manager Arne Slot Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - December 29, 2024 Liverpool manager Arne Slot Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
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Slot Downplays Man United's Low Placing, Saying He Will Not Sit Out Players for Clash

Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - December 29, 2024 Liverpool manager Arne Slot Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - December 29, 2024 Liverpool manager Arne Slot Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra/File Photo

Liverpool boss Arne Slot believes struggling Manchester United are better than their place in the Premier League standings suggest, and said he does not plan to rest any players when the two teams clash on Sunday at Anfield.

Liverpool top the table with 45 points and with a game in hand over the other title contenders. They are six points ahead of second-placed Arsenal, while United, with five losses in their last six league games, are languishing 14th with 22 points.

While United are no longer the force they were during the Alex Ferguson era, Slot was taken aback when asked if he plans to rest any of his key players on Sunday, Reuters reported.

"No. Of course not," Slot said. "For me, they have much better players than maybe the league table shows at the moment. It might take a while for (manager) Ruben Amorim to bring this out of the players but they are much better than the league table shows."

Although Slot is not expecting defender Joe Gomez back any time soon after he suffered an injury in their 5-0 thrashing of West Ham on Sunday, there was some good news in the return to training of Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate.

"Joe is not in a good place when it comes to his injury, he's out for a few weeks," Slot said. "Conor and Ibou will train with us today for the first time. They worked hard to come back for the team. The next step is how they'll handle team sessions."

Slot deftly sidestepped questions about Trent Alexander-Arnold amid speculation about a move to Real Madrid.

"I can tell you he's playing on Sunday and hopefully brings the same performance he's been bringing in the last half a year," he said. "He played an incredible game against West Ham. I see him training hard every day."

Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah leads the league with 17 goals and combined with his 13 assists, his goal contributions add up to one every 53 minutes.

Asked if Salah is currently the best in the world, Slot said it is difficult to compare players.

"If I only look at my own team, Virgil (van Dijk) also has an outstanding season but he doesn't have the numbers because he is a defender," the manager said. "The numbers Mo has speaks for themselves. If you simply look at the numbers and the way he's playing, he's definitely a great, great player."

Slot's men, who have lost only one game this season, beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in September and United have just one victory over their rivals in their last 13 league meetings.

Slot had kind words for Amorim, who admitted after their 2-0 loss to Newcastle United on Monday that his team could be facing potential relegation.

"Every manager sympathises with every other manager," he said. "We all know how much pressure this job brings. It is something we like. He's done so well at Sporting and I think he has a good squad of players so he will eventually bring the best out of them."