PSL: Our pick of the pile

Cape Town - High-flying Moroka Swallows will lose some altitude - and their 100 percent record - in round three of PSL fixtures, suggest the bulk of Sport24’s tipsters.

Every Absa Premiership round, a panel comprising compiler Rob Houwing plus Garrin Lambley, Raymond Silinga, Earl Haupt, Wade Pretorius, Tashreeq Vardien and Maano Nekhavhambe will attempt to hit the right buttons in forecasting a trio of the most attractive games on paper.

We will keep a season-long leaderboard showing who is prospering and which wretched souls are floundering: three points for wholly correct scoreline, one for right result.

Here’s our next trio of spiciest picks ...

1. Kaizer Chiefs v Bloemfontein Celtic, Tuesday 19:30, FNB Stadium

Hopefully there’ll be a pretty decent-sized crowd in the calabash for a meeting of teams boasting some of the most passionate and animated fans in the country. Although these are particularly early days, the Amakhosi have begun a bit like they did last season, when they looked for all money like potential champions by the halfway mark, only to subside when it really mattered. Still, a good start is a good start, isn’t it? All but Garrin here (he fancies a draw) believe Chiefs will make it a hat-trick of league wins this season against Phunya Sele Sele, who are unbeaten themselves ... but only with successive draws thus far, which restrict them to the bottom half of the table.

2. Moroka Swallows v Mamelodi Sundowns, Wednesday 19:30, Dobsonville Stadium

Is this going to be the wake-up game for defending champions Sundowns, sporting only one point from a possible six thus far? Ray certainly thinks so, but take his thoughts with a cautionary pinch of salt because he is a wee bit partial toward them! By far the most popular pick is a 1-1 stalemate, suggested by four of our seven wise fellows. But Wade believes the Birds’ budding fortunes will continue with another victory ... if it happens it would avenge last season’s outcome in the corresponding game, when Teko Modise’s lone strike made all the difference.

3. Wits v Maritzburg United, Wednesday 19:30, Bidvest Stadium

These aren’t the wealthiest or best-supported clubs in the PSL, that’s for sure, but they’ve made decent starts to the 2014/15 campaign and this could be a tight, enthralling contest as third-placed Maritzburg visit the Highveld to tackle Wits, breathing right down their necks in fourth. Our panel give you all options on this encounter, even if sentiment generally favours a home win and Tashreeq forecasts a five-goal rollercoaster ...

Leaderboard after two rounds:

8 - Raymond

6 - Tashreeq

5 - Earl

4 - Rob, Wade and Maano

2 - Garrin

*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing