After what turned out to be an eventful international break for Bafana Bafana, club football makes its comeback in the form of the DStv Premiership. The mission remains unchanged for most teams in the league, which is to catch Mamelodi Sundowns – or at least dream of doing it.
After what turned out to be an eventful international break for Bafana Bafana, club football makes its comeback in the form of the DStv Premiership.
The mission remains unchanged for most teams in the league, which is to catch Mamelodi Sundowns – or at least dream of doing it. The other CAF Champions League spot is open with around four teams chasing that second spot, namely Royal AM, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Cape Town City.
For the rest of the league, top eight seems to be anyone’s game at the moment, apart from Baroka, TS Galaxy and Swallows of course, who are rooted to the foot of the table, and will likely fight it out for survival come end of the season.
At 15:00 on Saturday, Royal AM will most certainly solidify their second spot in the standings when they face TS Galaxy in Nelspruit. The Durban-based outfit are unbeaten in five matches, while as mentioned, the Rockets have been one of the biggest disappointments this term.
At the same time, Stellenbosch host Sekhukhune United meet on level terms with both teams coming into this tie in relatively the exact same form lines. They occupy sixth and eighth spot respectively, while the hosts have drawn 11 times this campaign, which is only bettered, or worsened, by AmaZulu. If all goes according to plan, that tie should end in a stalemate.
Later on in the day, it only gets trickier with Kaizer Chiefs taking on Chippa United, who have somewhat turned the corner in their recent outings, drawing against Marumo Gallants on the road, while the Chilli Boys also beat Golden Arrows in Durban.
They haven’t, however, won a match on home soil this term, which is worrying going into the business end of the season and against a Kaizer Chiefs side that has plenty to fight for. Personally, I’d be very disappointed if Chiefs don’t win this weekend because I’m considering this one as a banker.
The last two matches on Saturday will be in KwaZulu-Natal as Golden Arrows host SuperSport United, while Maritzburg United entertain Swallows at Harry Gwala Stadium. With the utmost confidence in the world, Arrows and Maritzburg should trounce their opponents.
Which leaves us with just the single fixture on Sunday between Cape Town City and Baroka. Now this would seem straightforward for many, but experience in finding winners in this league tells me to tread carefully with this encounter.
Baroka love a fixture against one of the big guns, and by no means are Cape Town City that or anything close, but they have punched above their weight for more than a lifetime now. Baroka on the Win/Draw Double Chance, surprisingly, will be included in my weekend multiples.
All selections @ 94/1
Royal AM to win 13/20
Stellies to draw with Sekhukhune @ 21/10
Kaizer Chiefs to win @ 15/20
Golden Arrows to win @ 12/10
Maritzburg United to win @ 12/10
Baroka Win/Draw @ 12/10
