The odds by all reasonable and realistic accounts favour Mamelodi Sundowns as the tense and intriguing Premier Soccer League title battle with Orlando Pirates approaches the second-last, but possibly decisive, hurdle on Wednesday night.
Sundowns face relegation-threatened Classic at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium and Pirates travel to East London to take on another desperate relegation candidate in Bush Bucks.
Sundowns’ advantages stem from the fact that they hold a one-point lead over their close rivals going into the second-last fixture on the League programme. They have an infinitely superior goal difference and are at home on Wednesday night, while the Buccaneers will be confronted with relatively unfamiliar territory.
The net result of these and other permutations is that Sundowns could emerge champions after the two games, but Pirates’ quest for honours will not be conclusively decided — even should they prove victorious and Sundowns tumble to a devastating defeat.
Victory for both Sundowns and Pirates will set up a titanic finale on Saturday May 13 when the two championship challengers face each other in what would then be the decider — with the Buccaneers needing a victory and the Brazilians comforted in the knowledge that a draw would make them champions for the first time since they won three titles in successive years at the turn of the millennium.
Victory for Sundowns on Wednesday night and a defeat for Pirates would provide a mortal blow to the Buccaneers and their hopes of becoming champions.
And even a draw for Pirates and a win for Sundowns would, to all intents and purposes, mean an effective end to the championship charade — with Pirates then having to beat Sundowns by at least six goals in the last game to become champions.
It is a situation, nevertheless, that has left both Sundowns and Pirates on a knife’s edge.
Both have recently been hit by injuries to key players, namely Sundowns’ Monqoba ”Shakes” Ngwenya and Pirates Benedict Vilakazi, and both will be sweating profusely during the next 24 hours.
And for all the odds that favour Sundowns right now, the odds have invariably counted for little in this season’s topsy-turvy title race. — Sapa