Mamelodi Sundowns know a victory against the Egyptian side will put them in the driving seat of the group with 10 points after 4 matches while a win for Al Ahly will see them leapfrog the Brazilians to sit second in the group with 2 more matches remaining.

The importance of Saturday's encounter for both sides goes far beyond the fixture just being a typical clash of the titans encounter as both teams will want to finish the group having advanced to the knockout phase of the competition.

History favours Sundowns who have not been defeated by Al Ahly on home soil since 2019 with the hosts demolishing the Egyptian side 5-0 during the Egyptians first visit to South Africa in 2019.

Although the two teams have blown hot and cold in the competition in recent years, Sundowns and Al Ahly are equally evenly balanced on paper hence they played out to a 2-all draw in the reverse fixture a fortnight ago at the Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo.

Even though history may favour Sundowns heading into the encounter, head coach Rhulani Mokwena has dismissed the notion of Sundowns being favourites.

"It's difficult to comment on their winless record against us away because they are a team that have 393 CAF Champions League appearances among their regulars compared to my team that has 170 CAF Champions League appearances," Mokwena said.

With Sundowns unbeaten in group B so far and looking to go through to the knockout phase of the competition, Mokwena believes the team is on the right path and matches like facing Al Ahly as early as in the group stages will help his side in the long run of the competition.

Looking at the possibility of what might happen in the group with Sudanese side Al-Hilal currently topping group B with nine points after four matches while Sundowns are second with seven points and Al Ahly are third with four points, Mokwena has reiterated that the goal for Sundowns is to qualify for the quarterfinals.

"We can't control what happens to the other teams, we can only focus on ourselves, and we can focus on our performance and giving ourselves the best opportunity to win the football match and of course, to move as close as possible to 10 points so that our chances of qualifying are steadily good, whether we finish first or second in the group, our goal is to qualify for the knockout stage," Mokwena added.

Kick-off at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon is at 15:00.