MATCH STATS: TP Mazembe seek to bounce back against Gaborone United
Defending champions TP Mazembe will look to recover from their opening game defeat to ASEC Mimosas when they face Gaborone United at the Suez Canal Stadium.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
TP Mazembe are facing a Southern African club for the third time, following previous encounters against Mamelodi Sundowns in 2022 and the University of Western Cape in 2024.
They lost 4-0 to Sundowns in 2022 and defeated UWC 2-0 in 2024, both at the group stage.
Mazembe face a debutant for the sixth time, having won three and lost two of the previous such fixtures. Their defeat to ASEC was their second against a debutant, the first being Bayelsa Queens in 2022.
Before the loss to ASEC, Mazembe had won three successive games against debutants, UWC, Aigles de la Medina and Edo Queens, all at the 2024 edition.
TP Mazembe – Key Statistics
• Lost their opening game against ASEC Mimosas, becoming the third consecutive defending champion to do so.• The only defending champion to win their opening game remains Mamelodi Sundowns in 2022.
• Lost their first group game for the first time, having beaten Wadi Degla in 2022 and UWC in 2024.
• Conceded and failed to score in their opening game for the first time.
• Their three-game winning streak ended with the defeat to ASEC.
• Had scored in all five matches at the 2024 finals before being shut out against ASEC , the first time they failed to score since losing 4-0 to Sundowns in 2022.
• Have never previously won their second group game – lost 2-1 to Bayelsa Queens in 2022 and 3-1 to AS FAR in 2024.
• Defeat would mean successive group losses for the second time, having also lost on matchdays two and three in 2022.
• Failure to win would mark the first time they do not win any of their opening two group games.
• A loss would make them the first defending champion to lose back-to-back group matches.
• In both prior cases where defending champions lost their opening fixture, they won the next: AS FAR beat Huracanes after losing in 2023, and Sundowns defeated CBE 4-0 after their 2024 opening defeat to Masar.
• Managed only two shots on target against ASEC Mimosas.
• Belange Nzumba made five interceptions – joint highest in that match.
• None of their previous nine games have ended in a draw (W5 L4).
Gaborone United – Key Statistics
• Opened with a 0-0 draw against JKT Queens of Tanzania.
• Third Southern African debutant to avoid defeat and keep a clean sheet in their first game at the finals, after Mamelodi Sundowns (2021) and Green Buffaloes (2022). UWC are the only Southern African debutant to lose their opener.
• Looking to become only the second Southern African debutant to avoid defeat in both their first two matches, after Sundowns in 2021.
• Had five shots on target against JKT Queens, the joint second-highest tally of the opening round (behind AS FAR’s nine).
• Gaonyadiwe Ontlametse registered two shots on target – the only Gaborone United player to do so.
• Faced just two shots on target against JKT Queens.
• Held 35.8% possession in their opening match.
• Completed 133 of 299 attempted passes in that game.