Our predictions – Will it be Sundowns, or will it be Chiefs?

Why Sundowns will win the league title

Khaya  Ndubane

READ MORE: Mosimane not banking on Baroka to do Sundowns a favour against Chiefs.

Last season Mamelodi Sundowns already showed that they’re capable of chasing down a big target and winning the championship title. Towards the end of the 2018/19 season, Orlando Pirates were 12 points clear at the top, but the Brazilians managed to topple Bucs and won the title. Perhaps you could say last season is a long time ago, but let us look then at what transpired this season. Kaizer Chiefs were 14 points clear the top at one stage and it looked like they would win the title with games to spare, but they are now tied on points with the self-same Sundowns at the top with 56 points, with just one game to go. Get my point? Granted, both teams have been inconsistent since the resumption of the season, but unlike Chiefs who have struggled to collect maximum points, Sundowns have been able to win games. In the last round of fixtures, Chiefs were lucky to win against Chippa United and if the referee had done his job, the game should have ended in a draw at least, leaving Sundowns two points clear going into Saturday’s games. On the same day that Chiefs struggled to beat Chippa, Sundowns easily disposed of hapless Polokwane City 3-0 to put Rise and Shine on the verge of automatic relegation. The Brazilians are therefore the form team going into the last round of fixtures. They face Black Leopards, whom they have a good record against, while Chiefs face their nemesis Baroka FC, so do your maths, who do you think stands a better chance of winning the league title? I say Sundowns!

Keletso Makgalwa of Mamelodi Sundowns celebrates putting his side 3-0 up during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 match between Polokwane City and Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria, on 02 September 2020 ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Why Chiefs will win the league title

Jonty Mark

READ MORE: Shabba tells Chiefs to ‘dig deep’ in final push for Absa Premiership title.

Is Kaizer Chiefs head coach Ernst Middendorp the most maligned coach in the history of the PSL to be on the brink of winning a league title for his side? Well actually no, if you consider that in the season Gordon Igesund won the league with the Buccaneers, in 2000/01, he was attacked by fans at training not long before he led the side to a first title in seven years. Igesund ended up leaving Pirates at the end of that season, and there is every sign that Middendorp could follow suit, with many unimpressed with the way his side play, even though they have been leading the Absa Premiership for well over a year, in this season elongated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In truth, to let him go would be brutal treatment for a man who has come in and got Amakhosi closer to a league title since they won it with Stuart Baxter back in 2015. Chiefs have not always played the most attractive football, but it has certainly been effective, and I think they will manage the one more victory that will surely get them over the line against Baroka FC on Saturday. Chiefs have had a mixed bio-bubble, but have also shown plenty of mental resolve, notably when they came back to beat Polokwane City 3-2, as well as this week, when they came flying out of the blocks to take a lead that they never lost against Chippa. It would be heartbreaking for Chiefs, and their supporters, who will no doubt be watching on tv and listening on the radio all over the country, to lose out to Sundowns right at the last. But I’m backing them to beat Baroka, leaving Sundowns with too much to do against Black Leopards.

Khama Billiat of Kaizer Chiefs celebrates his goal with teammates during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 match between Kaizer Chiefs and Chippa United at the Orlando Stadium, Soweto on the 02 September 2020 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

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