They will be overwhelming favourites, but this is a competition that has provided plenty of surprise winners in the past.
Here are the talking points ahead of the clash.
Sharing the love
The Carling Knockout competition has had 11 different winners in the previous 12 editions, with Mamelodi Sundowns the only club to win it more than once in that period with victories in 2015 and 2019, given the competition took a break for three seasons without a sponsor. The other teams to lift the trophy in this extraordinary run are Kaizer Chiefs (2010), Pirates (2011), Bloemfontein Celtic (2012), Platinum Stars (2013), SuperSport United (2014), Cape Town City (2016), BidVest Wits (2017), Baroka (2018), Stellenbosch (2023) and Magesi FC (2024). Pirates have been in four finals since 2010 and lost three of them, painfully to Chiefs that year, as well as Platinum Stars and Baroka.
Pirates on the march
Pirates are on a 16-game unbeaten run in domestic football with 13 victories and three draws in that time. The last team to beat them? Gallants in a league fixture on August 12. That was a 2-1 home success for the Free State side after Patrick Maswanganyi had given The Buccaneers the lead on 16 minutes. But Daniel Msendami equalised in the second half and Jaisen Clifford netted the winner in the 92nd minute for a famous Gallants victory.
It was no fluke either, Gallants beat Pirates 2-0 in the league last season, when current Buccaneers coach Abdeslam Ouaddou was in charge of them, meaning they have won two of the previous three meetings. But overall Pirates hold sway with six wins in their 11 previous clashes, to go with three draws and two defeats. They have outscored Gallants 19–11.
Young coach
The history books may be vague on this one, but at 28 years old, will coach Alexandre Lafitte become the youngest ever cup winner in South Africa if he leads Gallants to the trophy? It can’t be far off, though in the 1970s there were player-coaches and similar cases.
The Frenchman led Ivorian side Stade d’Abidjan to their first league title in almost 60 years last season, so he knows how to win, even if it has been an up-and-down season so far with good victories mixed with disappointing defeats.
It is also striking that his first-choice goalkeeper, Washington Arubi, is 12 years older than him.
Paying the penalty
Gallants have twice advanced on penalties in this year’s competition, meaning their only outright victory was the impressive 4-0 quarterfinal win over Stellenbosch FC. They needed spot-kicks to defeat Sundowns after a 0-0 draw, and Lamontville Golden Arrows after a 2-2 stalemate in the semifinals.
What it does show, at least, is that they have the mentality for a shootout.
Pirates, on the other hand, were ousted from the CAF Champions League via a shootout last month, but did beat Sundowns on penalties in the final of the MTN8 in September.
Excellent finals record
Pirates have now reached eight cup finals in the last three-and-a-bit seasons and won six of their previous seven.
They have triumphed in the last four deciders in the MTN8 for a record run in that competition, and two of the last three in the Nedbank Cup, their only blemish being a painful defeat to Kaizer Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup decider at the end of last season.
Still, it is hard to argue with that return.
