Mamelodi Sundowns face Wydad Athletic Club in the finals of African Football League (AFL) on Sunday, 12 November at 15h00 Local Time (13h00 GMT) to decide who will be crowned champions of the inaugural edition.
Wydad come into the clash at the back of a narrow 2-1 lead over the South African champions who will be banking on home support at the Loftus Stadium to rally them over the finish line.
● Mamelodi have won just one of their last six encounters against Wydad Casablanca (D4 L1), scoring just four goals, and conceding twice in each of the last two games (D1 L1).
● Having won the first leg (2-1), Wydad Casablanca are looking to win consecutive matches against Mamelodi Sundowns for the first time since April 2019.
● Mamelodi Sundowns have never lost a home match against Wydad Casablanca, alternating between a win and a draw in their six such games against the Moroccan side (W3 D3).
● The last two matches between Mamelodi Sundowns and Wydad Casablanca have seen an average of 3.5 goals per game (2-1 in the first leg and 2-2 in the CAF Champions League in May), after the first 11 games between the two sides saw an average of just 1.2 (13 goals in total).
● Mamelodi Sundowns are unbeaten in their last 24 home matches in all competitions (W20 D4), keeping clean sheets in five of their last seven such games.
● Wydad Casablanca have won seven of their last eight matches in all competitions (L1), while their sole defeat did come away from home – in the second leg of their semi-final against ES Tunis (1-0) in the African Football League (progressed to the final on penalties).
● Wydad Casablanca are the only team in the inaugural African Football League to name an unchanged side (in the first leg against Mamelodi Sundowns). Indeed they’ve made just four changes to their starting eleven across their five games (0.8 per game), with only TP Mazembe making fewer changes per game in the competition this season (0.5 – 1/2).
● There have been just six goals in Mamelodi Sudowns’ five matches in the African Football League (half of which came in the first leg against Wydad Casablanca) – only Petro de Luanda’s games have seen fewer goals per game (1 – 2/2) in the competition than the South African finalists (1.2).
● Mamelodi Sundowns’ Teboho Mokoena had four shots in the first leg against Wydad Casablanca, twice as many as any other player. Indeed, he has attempted nine shots (three on target) overall in the African Football League, the most of any player without scoring.
● Wydad Casablanca’s Yahya Attiat-Allah has created 11 chances for his teammates, at least four more than any other player in the African Football League this season – he’s also played the most passes into the box in the competition (34).
● Mamelodi Sundowns have scored 100% of their goals (4/4) in the African Football League in the second half of games, netting more second half goals than any other team in the competition, while both goals Wydad Casablanca have conceded came in the second half.
