Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Take a look at the PSL log and it's Bidvest Wits who are narrowly in front of Cape Town City with a superior goal difference and a game in hand - but with the teams locked on 38 points.
A relatively long way down the table in fifth place with 32 points are CAF Champions League holders and defending PSL champions Mamelodi Sundowns with a sizeable deficit of six points.
However, it does not require an Einstein to analyse the situation from a mathematical perception and come up with the conclusion that because The Brazilians have played 15 games compared to the 19 by Wits and the 20 by Cape Town City that the current log table reflects a glaring distortion of what might be termed the true situation.
In fact, based on a calculation to determine the points ratio per game achieved by the five legitimate frontrunners for the Premier League title and it is Sundowns who top the list - and are best-placed to finish on top at the end of the season and retain their title.
Here, therefore, is how the five title contenders are positioned on the basis of percentage points gained per game, with Sundowns in front on an average of 2.13 points; Wits second with two points: Cape Town City third on 1.9 points; SuperSport at 1.85 per game and Kaizer Chiefs in fifth place on 1,75 points per match.
Put in another way, if the present trend of results continues, Sundowns would go more than two points in front of Wits once they have made up the four fewer games they have played than The Students.
Hypothetical as these calculations might be, which are, of course, the product of Sundowns playing substantially fewer games right now than the rest of the PSL pack because of their involvement in CAF competition matches, they provide a truer reflection of the title race than the positions in the existing log table.
And all this without Albert Einstein's assistance, but with his theory of relativity!
