South Africa’s CAF representatives all qualified for the next stage in their continental tours, but there is little time to celebrate as they now have to play catch up in the league. Their midweek encounters last week produced only six goals in four games combined, but the week was salvaged by Over 6.5 goals in the Cape Town City Arrows game. Phew. We’re hoping for more goals this midweek, but with the Sundowns game postponed, are we being overly optimistic? We dug through some numbers to preview the coming games.
DSTV Premiership is back, combs through the numbers and we come up with the best bets for your multis and bet slips as well as providing value bets.
Stellenbosch v Marumo Gallants
Supersport’s defeat at the weekend means there are now just two unbeaten teams in the league this season. That Sundowns are one is to be expected, but having Stellenbosch as the other is an interesting surprise. Their 11-game unbeaten run is their longest in the top-flight, but it features eight draws.
Nevertheless, they have a 100% record at home – another record they share with Sundowns. As for Gallants, it will be interesting to see how they cope with the workload. Travelling first to Congo, then to Cape Town in two weeks could be a factor, in particular when you consider their away form:
10 – Gallants have not won any of their last 10 away games in all competitions, scoring just two open-play goals in 930 minutes of play.
Sekhukhune v AmaZulu
The good times seem to be back for AmaZulu who are now unbeaten in eight across all competitions. They were seconds away from becoming only the second side in PSL history to win at TP Mazembe, and while that may have been disappointing, they still qualified. To come so close against 5-time Champions League winners is a measure of how far they have come. However, that form is needed on the domestic front if they are to challenge for the title again. Sekhukhune won’t be easy though:
1 – Only one team (JDR Stars) has scored more than 1.5 goals at Sekhukhune since the start of last season. That’s 20 home matches.
Orlando Pirates v Royal AM
One goal in 180 minutes was sufficient for Pirates to progress in the Confederations Cup, and such is the nature of knockout competitions. While that solitary goal was enough to ward off a Diables side with one goal all season, the same can’t be said when you have top-scoring Royal AM in town. The fact that Happy Jele is Pirates’ joint-top scorer this season tells an alarming story. Pirates have played 10 games already in the campaign but scored Over 1.5 goals in only two. And if we exclude set-piece goals, they have scored Over 1.5 open-play goals only once.
This one has the potential to be a cracker if John Maduka’s sharpshooters continue their form.
14 – Royal AM are only the second PSL team in the last eight seasons to score 14+ goals in their opening seven top-flight matches (also Sundowns 2020/21).