Cape Town - In-form Polokwane City have a crack at lowering the colours of still-runaway Absa Premiership leaders Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday... but our forecasters’ sentiment leans toward a narrow Amakhosi triumph.
Every PSL round, a Sport24 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 predicting a trio of the most attractive games.
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 our three picks for Week 12:
1. Polokwane City v Kaizer Chiefs, Tuesday 19:30, Peter Mokaba Stadium
So... perhaps they are human after all? The Amakhosi still lead the PSL by a hefty 11 points, but the chasers will take some heart from the fact that they’ve been held to two draws in their last three matches after that runaway, all-wins start to the season. There must be a chance that Polokwane City will give them a stern examination at what should be a healthily-filled Peter Mokaba Stadium: they’re on a remarkable run of three away victories in succession! But their home record ain’t so great, which is why Chiefs must still be fancied...
Rob’s tip: 1-2
Garrin: 1-2
Raymond: 0-2
Earl: 0-2
Wade: 0-1
Tashreeq: 1-1
Maano: 1-1
2. University of Pretoria v Orlando Pirates, Wednesday 19:30, Tuks Stadium
The Bucccaneers are starting to stir: beating SuperSport United away last time out was a good result and they have shifted up to fourth on the log with a game in hand – win that extra fixture and they could roll into second. That said, AmaTuks are on a mini-roll themselves, having netted three times in each of their wins over Ajax and, more recently, Swallows. Mindful of that scoring habit, I fancy Pirates to shut the defensive gate pretty determinedly and also bag all three points.
Rob’s tip: 0-2
Garrin: 1-2
Raymond: 0-1
Earl: 0-1
Wade: 1-2
Tashreeq: 1-2
Maano: 0-1
3. Ajax Cape Town v Bloemfontein Celtic, Wednesday 19:30, Cape Town Stadium
Phunya Sele Sele have a surprisingly strong support base in the Mother City... and knowledge of their heroes being unbeaten in four league games could add to the volume of away support. Ajax are finding goals hard to come by at present, none in two outings, but a pure hunch tells me they will discover some mojo and entrench their hold on second spot with a heartening win here. That seems the majority view of our panel.
Rob’s tip: 2-1
Garrin: 1-0
Raymond: 1-1
Earl: 1-0
Wade: 1-0
Tashreeq: 1-1
Maano: 1-0
LEADERBOARD:
27 Wade
24 Tashreeq
23 Ray
22 Earl
20 Maano
19 Garrin & Rob