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PSL: Our pick of the pile

Cape Town - Orlando Pirates are the “form” team of the last round ... and there’s huge support from our panel for another victory for the Sea Robbers when they tackle struggling Moroka Swallows on Wednesday night.

Regularly during the PSL season, 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 bunch 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 group of spiciest picks ...

1. Maritzburg United v Mamelodi Sundowns, Tuesday 20:00, Harry Gwala Stadium

They’re so far ahead on the table – 13 points clear of their nearest challengers – that I figured it was time to give Kaizer Chiefs a bit of a break, especially as their midweek game is against humdrum Free State Stars. Instead the focus is on the rest of the chasing pack, and this is a pretty good match-up as sixth-placed Maritzburg entertain third-lying defending champions ‘Downs. Both come off slightly disappointing draws, so another stalemate would do neither any special favours, would it? But it’s my tip as the outcome, and I see I have some backers ...

Rob’s tip: 1-1
Garrin: 1-2
Raymond: 1-2
Earl: 1-2
Wade: 1-1
Tashreeq: 1-3      
Maano: 1-1

2. Wits v SuperSport United, Wednesday 19:30, Bidvest Stadium

SuperSport haven’t tasted a victory in four PSL outings, including two defeats, so they will be desperate to reclaim some lost ground: they’ve slumped to an unacceptable (by their standards) 11th on the table. Wits, by contrast, are on a run of two wins and a draw, and with home ground advantage in this all-Highveld clash the second-placed side at least should not play second fiddle. My suspicion is that goals will be hard to come by in the fixture, although all results possibilities are presented by our panel and Tashreeq, by contrast, fancies a five-goal rollercoaster.

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

3. Moroka Swallows v Orlando Pirates, Wednesday 19:30, Dobsonville Stadium

After a relatively unproductive period, Pirates roared into free-scoring action in the last round with that 4-0 stuffing of a fast-fading Ajax Cape Town. Given his double strike against the Capetonians, Lehlohonolo Majoro is going to be a marked man by ailing Moroka Swallows when the “other” Soweto derby is contested on Wednesday. Whether the Birds can do enough to stop the welcome, collective Pirates charge is doubtful: they haven’t even managed a goal in their last two matches and the vast majority of our gurus fancy an away win.

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

Leaderboard:

33 - Wade
28 - Maano
27 - Rob, Tashreeq & Earl
26 - Ray
23 - Garrin

*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing

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