Battle for second in the spotlight

Battle for second in the spotlight

By Mark Gleeson

The opinion of most pundits is that Mamelodi Sundowns will run away with the league title again this season and if that does prove the case, the real interest is going to be in the battle for second spot in the DStv Premiership.

Potentially it could be any of the 15 other teams in the top-flight of domestic football because the gap between Richards Bay in second place and last-placed Marumo Gallants is 15 points with 13 rounds of matches still to be played.

Realistically, there are a cluster of clubs with the potential to finish runners-up and simultaneously grab a berth in next season’s African Champions League.

Richards Bay have been the surprise package of the season so far and are two points clear in second. They will go into this Sunday’s derby against AmaZulu in Umlazi in a confident mood, even if a little threadbare as injuries begin to mount.

SuperSport United are in third, in spite of having collected just one point from their last three games, and are away at Swallows FC on Saturday. The match is one three PSL clashes in Saturday’s R500,000-added Soccer 10 pool, which is set to total over R3 million!

Orlando Pirates, with seven goals from their previous two matches, go to Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace to face bottom-placed Marumo Gallants. The Buccaneers will be hoping this is the start of a winning run and many will make them a banker to win in this mega Soccer 10 pool, but their inconsistency makes it hard to be totally confident they will deliver.

On Sunday many eyes will be on Kaizer Chiefs, who have lost three in a row and not scored a goal or banked a point this year. Only once before have they suffered four successive defeats, but they could suffer that ignominy again when they host Royal AM. Chiefs are taking the game to the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, perhaps a positive given how poorly they have fared at Soccer City where their support is dwindling. But it is worth noting that Chiefs are only six points away from second place and a handful of wins could turn around their current woes.

FA Cup fourth-round action in England this weekend is headlined by the clash between Manchester City and Arsenal on Friday, a curtain raiser to their two upcoming league meetings which might yet decide the outcome of the EPL title.