After a perfect start in the CAF Confederation Cup group phase when they beat JS Saoura 2-0 at home last week, Orlando Pirates co-coach Fadlu Davids expects a difficult encounter against Libyan side Al-Ittihad.

The Buccaneers will travel to Libya to face Al-Ittihad in their second match of Group B at Martyrs of February Stadium in Benina, a suburb of Benghazi city, on Sunday at 6pm looking to maintain their perfect start.

But Davids expects the Libyans to be tougher than JS Saoura of Algeria, having watched some of their videos.

“We already have some matches downloaded from the analyst but we as coaches, our focus was fully on the Golden Arrows game and we will start analysing them now,” Davids told the media after their goalless draw with Abafana Bes’thende on Wednesday at Orlando Stadium.

“But our analysts have already done the work and they have some details about the team. Definitely a better team so far if you compare them to JS Saoura.”

Indeed, Al-Ittihad are top of Group B of the Libyan Premier League, with 19 points. They have won five matches and drawn four of their first nine fixtures.

In their last competitive match on January 21, Al-Ittihad drew 0-0 at home to Asswehly before the Libyan league suspended their matches to afford the Tripoli-based club  the opportunity to prepare thoroughly for CAF fixtures.

Yet they have not played a competitive match for four weeks, with two matches having been postponed.

“It is a very tough opponent that we are going to face, but what is familiar is that we are going to the same stadium where we played last season against Al-Ahly Benghazi,” Davids said.

“So we know where we are going and what type of pitch we are going to play. It is just now finalising the finer details of the team, how they play and how we can approach the game.

“But it will be a tough game coming up.”

Pirates have been boosted by the return from injury of several players.

“This is the first time where we have 95 to 98% player availability,” Davids said.

“Everyone is back and you could see a difference in the training sessions where everybody is fighting for a place and in the first round we did not have that. A lot of players were not available and the team is moving in the right direction.”