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Cape Town - In a season highlighted by an assortment of strange, bizarre and unpredictable events, smooth-sailing Mamelodi Sundowns, in contrast, already have the look of Absa Premiership champions about them.
And it is not simply because The Brazilians forged their way to the top of the log table following Sunday's 1-0 victory over Golden Arrows that the league's most successful club since the inception of the Absa Premiership in 1996 appear a good bet to add to their record seven championship titles.
A somewhat misleading log table shows Sundowns with 22 points heading second-placed Orlando Pirates by a mere two points and third-placed Kaizer Chiefs by three points.
But with three games in hand over both the renowned, but currently wavering Soweto giants, Sundowns theoretically could increase these leads to double figures - and most likely beyond the reach of The Buccaneers and Amakhosi.
Sundowns' goal difference of plus 10 is also appreciably superior to that of Pirates, who stand on plus one and Chiefs on plus three.
And a closer perusal of the league table suggests that fourth-placed Bloemfontein Celtic, with the same number of points as Chiefs, but from two fewer games, and SuperSport United, down in 11th place, seven points behind the log leaders, but from three fewer games, are currently best-placed to threaten Sundowns' dominance.
With the best-balanced and most talented squad in the Absa Premiership, Sundowns' success is augmented by the wealth of billionaire owner Patrice Motsepe, with funds readily available to bolster the team when required.
And, in this respect, coach Pitso Mosimane is the envy of his contemporaries in the Absa Premiership, with The Brazilians usurping much of the glamour tag round the country that was once the prerogative of Chiefs and Pirates.
Meanwhile, the Absa Premiership season in general is spattered with the unexpected and unpredictable, with nothing more inexplicable than the descent of defending champions Bidvest Wits to the bottom of the log - as Sundowns serenely march towards another imminent championship triumph.
