PSL title could be decided during restart week
Sundowns will not make life easy for Chiefs
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is set to restart with two humdingers in two days involving title contenders Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns.Log leaders Chiefs will host a very dangerous outfit in Bidvest Wits on August 12 at Chiefs’ new temporal home, Orlando Stadium, an encounter Amakhosi will simply have to win if they are to remain title favourites.
The Chiefs-Wits fixture will be played a day later after a clash that will have a lot of say in the direction of the PSL title as defending champion Sundowns host Pirates at their new temporary home of Dobsonville Stadium.
Both fixtures are scheduled for a 6pm kick-off.A Chiefs win, regardless of the Sundowns result, will keep the Phefeni Glamour Boys in the driver’s seat to lift the domestic title for the first time in half a decade.
But a loss could mean that Sundowns is favoured to defend their crown despite the fact that Pisto Mosimane’s men would still trail Chiefs by a singular point.The leaders sit on 48 points with eight games remaining, while Sundowns, the chasers, are four points behind with nine matches to play.
But with a much deeper squad and more experience to deal with the pressures of a title run-in, Sundowns, who also had momentum on their side before the season was abruptly halted by the lockdown, are better equipped for this race.In Amakhosi’s case, they should be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to actually doing enough to successfully wrestle the title from Sundowns.
They are five-time PSL champions after all and they have led the log for longer than any team this season. Chiefs coach Ernest Middendorp’s game plan of direct football which heavily relies on the assisting services of the likes of Lebogang Manyama and the finishing of Samir Nurkovic has worked brilliantly for the Soweto Glamour Boys.It was a game plan that was never going to be sustainable, and those cracks began showing when they lost 1-0 to a mediocre AmaZulu outfit, allowing Sundowns to close the gap from seven to four points.
As mentioned, Chiefs have not lifted the league title in five years while Sundowns won the league three times between then and now.
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