PSL: Our pick of the pile

Cape Town - Is the fast-moving Kaizer Chiefs freight train in the Absa Premiership finally about to be derailed? Not by Maritzburg United it won’t, insist Sport24’s tipsters.

Every PSL round, a panel made up of 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. Wits v AmaZulu, Friday 20:00, Bidvest Stadium

I wouldn’t label this a true cracker on paper, but have elected to give it prominence in the weekend’s round because of the parlous position AmaZulu find themselves in: just three points so far and the only side yet to savour a victory. So the heat is on for last season’s respectable mid-tablers, currently in the wooden-spoon spot, to start accumulating wins. Mind you, Bidvest Stadium on a near-traditional Friday night isn’t the easiest place to achieve that and there’s overwhelming sentiment here that Gavin Hunt’s charges (riding fourth though tight losers to Pirates in their last fixture) will win. Maano goes a little against the grain, seeing a share of the points.

Rob’s tip: 1-0
Garrin: 2-1
Raymond: 1-0
Earl: 2-1
Wade: 2-0
Tashreeq: 2-1  
Maano: 1-1

2. Black Aces v Ajax Cape Town, Saturday 15:00, Mbombela Stadium

Shrewdly, Ajax coach Roger de Sa has been talking up Aces this week ... partly, perhaps, as a tactic to keep his own high-flying charges’ feet on the ground. The Capetonians face a tough trek to the Lowveld for this one. Beautiful Mbombela Stadium will have played host to a key Currie Cup match between the Pumas and WP the night before, so it may not be a snooker table. My hunch is that Aces, despite just six points from as many games, will limit Ajax to a share of the spoils here ... although there’s also strong support from the panel for an away win. The game is a precursor to the same teams’ meeting soon afterwards in the Telkom Knockout.  

Rob: 1-1
Garrin: 1-1
Raymond: 0-2
Earl: 0-1
Wade: 1-2
Tashreeq: 1-2  
Maano: 0-1

3. Kaizer Chiefs v Maritzburg United, Saturday 20:15, FNB Stadium

Some major silverware already in the cabinet, and a stunning 18 points out of 18 in the league! Things are going swimmingly for Soweto giants Chiefs ... perhaps too swimmingly, our experts feel, for visitors Maritzburg to be able to break the trend. The side from KZN haven’t managed to win an away PSL game yet this season, so perhaps their best hope is a defiant point. But even that may well be optimistic, yes? One thing: the AmaKhosi haven’t yet buried any opponents with a real avalanche of goals, and again I believe they will be businesslike rather than truly ruthless on Saturday night ...

Rob: 1-0
Garrin: 2-0
Raymond: 3-1
Earl: 2-0
Wade: 2-0
Tashreeq: 2-0
Maano: 2-1

Leaderboard:

16 - Raymond & Wade
15 - Tashreeq
13 - Earl
12 - Rob
11 - Maano
7 - Garrin

*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing