Sundowns may have edge over Pirates

We were back on the winning trail with our Soccer 6 and 10 permutations this week, although the payouts were lower than expected.

Let’s hope the trend continues this weekend when the featured Soccer 6 pool consists of four games from the PSL and two from the German Bundesliga.

The highlight is the clash between African champions Mamelodi Sundowns and Soweto giants Orlando Pirates.

Sundowns opened their 2017 campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 away win at Bloemfontein Celtic, while Pirates were unimpressive in their 0-0 draw at hosts, Platinum Stars.

Head-to-head results between these teams are almost even with Pirates holding a slight edge. I think Sundowns are a class above most teams in the PSL and if there’s to be an outright winner it should be the “Brazilians”. M1 Golden Arrows v Bloemfontein Celtic: Arrows had a poor re-start to their league campaign,

but should be good enough to take at least a point from this encounter. M2 Mamelodi Sundowns v Orlando Pirates: Sundowns win and draw. M3 SV Darmstadt 98 v Borussia Dortmund: Bundesliga bottom club Darmstadt have 10 losses with only a single draw in their last 11 league outings, whereas Dortmund are getting back to top form and look certainties to claim all three points. M4 FC Schalke 04 v Hertha

Berlin: although Schalke have had a poor season by their standards, they have shown glimpses of returning to form. Hertha are much more effective at home than on the road and have lost their last three away matches. M5 Ajax Cape Town v Cape Town City: at first glance this looks easy to predict with lofty City playing lowly Ajax. But this is a local derby with added tension. M6 Maritzburg United v Kaizer Chiefs: Roger da Sa got

his coaching career at Maritzburg off to a good start with a gutsy 1-1 draw away at a tough Polokwane City. Chiefs were also impressive in their 3-1 defeat of Free State Stars. They are bound to find it difficult against a spirited home team, but their class should shine through.

Suggested R144 permutation for the Soccer 6 pool tomorrow 11 February S6 V2 P1 is: M1 =1, 2; M2 =1, 2; M3 = 3; M4 =1, 2; M5 = 1, 2, 3; M6 = 3.

The featured Soccer 10 Pool is also on Saturday (S10 V2), and the four PSL games in the Soccer 6 are included. The additional bankers are in M3 with Manchester United to beat an in improved Watford and in M5 Stoke City to beat a struggling Crystal Palace.

Suggested R384 perm for the Soccer 10 pool Saturday S10 V2 is: M1 =1, 2; M2 =1, 2; M3 = 1; M4 = 2, 3; M5 = 1; M6 =1, 2; M7 =1, 2; M8 =1, 2; M9 =1, 2, 3; M10 = 3.

For all TAB’s soccer pools this week go to www.soccer6.co.za