Downs, Chiefs to kick off new season

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has switched around the opening fixtures of the new Premiership campaign to allow champions Mamelodi Sundowns to get the new season under way in a showpiece clash against Kaizer Chiefs.

Originally‚ Bidvest Wits and Free State Stars were due to kick off the new league season on August 3‚ but the two clubs have been asked to put back their match by 24 hours to allow for the high-profile SundownsChiefs clash. Wits agreed to the change‚ feeling it is only fair that the defending league champions kick off the new season as they did in the 2017-18 campaign.

Sundowns’ match against Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld at 3pm on August 4 is now the first of 240 league fixtures scheduled through to May 2019. The PSL released the season’s fixtures on Monday night‚ a day before Ajax Cape Town went to court in a bid to delay next weekend’s kick off while they fight their relegation from the top flight.

The fixtures confirm what TimesLIVE published on June 28‚ when first revealing dates for the coming campaign.

Saturday also sees Wits host Free State Stars at 6pm, with Cape Town City welcoming SuperSport United, also at 6pm. Later on the same night‚ Orlando Pirates host newly promoted Highlands Park at the Orlando Stadium, while Baroka FC play AmaZulu at King Zwelithini Stadium. Both kick off at 8.15pm

On August 5‚ Maritzburg United and Lamontville Golden Arrows meet in the KwaZuluNatal derby at Harry Gwala Stadium, while Bloemfontein Celtic play Chippa United at the Molemela Stadium.

The MTN8 kicks off on August 11-12 and the first leg of the semifinals follow a fortnight later‚ spread over successive weekends. The final will be played on September 29. The Telkom Knockout kicks off on the weekend of October 19-21 and the final is on December 8.

The league will have a short Christmas break with the last fixtures of the year on December 23. Play resumes on January 4. The first round of the Nedbank Cup starts on January 23 and the final marks the end of the season on May 18.

The last two rounds of league fixtures will be played‚ as is now tradition‚ simultaneously on May 8 and May 11.