The relegation strugglers
Baroka FC P 24, Pts 21
For a side that has done pretty well in the NFD last season and the Nedbank Cup against PSL sides in the last couple of years, Bakgaga looked to have a promising future. However, things have turned up pretty bad for the Polokwane side. Their maiden PSL campaign has not lived up to expectations. With only four wins in 21 matches, it’s looking bleak, but with a mere four points getting them to safety, they will be fighting to survive.
Remaining fixtures:
April 26: Pirates (a) April 30: Bloem Celtic (h) May 10: Sundowns (a) May 13: Arrows (a) May 17: Highlands Park h) May 27: Ajax CT (a)
Prediction: 16th (automatic relegation)
Highlands Park P 24, Pts 21
Also in their maiden Premiership campaign, the Lions of the North have found the going tough. They even went on to re-deploy coach Alan Freese who helped the side gain promotion to the Premiership, and appointed former SuperSport United and Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund. But things have not got any better under him. Highlands are the worst defensive team in the league, having let in 38 goals so far, while only managing to score 22.
Remaining fixtures
April 25: Bloem Celtic (a) April 28: Wits (h) May 7: Platinum Stars (a) May 14: Chippa Utd (h) May 17: Baroka (a) May 27: Sundowns (h)
Prediction: 15th (relegation play-offs)
Free State Stars P 24, Pts 22
The loss of Giovanni Solinas, who has always seemed to get the best out of the players, has once again inflicted a stint of poor results at the Bethlehem team, who have only recorded five wins this season. He was since replaced by former Bloemfontein Celtic coach Serame Letsoaka, but having had a terrible spell with Celtic, it has been a similar story for Letsoaka at Stars. He recently steered the team to an important league win over Orlando Pirates but has since lost to Baroka and Sundowns.
Remaining fixtures:
April 26 - Platinum Stars (a) April 29 - Polokwane City (h) May 5 - CT City (a) May 10 - Wits (h) May 17- Bloem Celtic (a) May 27 - Chippa Utd (h)
Prediction: 14th
Bloemfontein Celtic P 23, Pts 23
Another Free State team in the relegation battle, Bloemfontein Celtic, have endured a hectic league campaign despite having a good run in the Nedbank Cup, where they reached the quarterfinals. Celtic have only had two victories this year, which took their tally to five wins after 23 games this season. Coached by former player Lehlohonolo Seema, the club has to start picking up points to enable themselves to get out of the relegation scrap.
Remaining fixtures
April 25: Highlands Park (h) April 30: Baroka FC (a) May 3: SuperSport Utd (a) May 10: Pirates (h) May 13: Ajax CT (a) May 17: Free State Stars (h) May 27: Maritzburg United (a)
Prediction: 11th
Chippa United P 24, Pts 24
Having had a fairy tale finish last season where Chippa United came sixth, one would have expected Dan Malesela’s men to improve on that, which was attributed to a great blend of football the Chippa coach taught his players. Looking at the table, it is quite hard to believe the team that made history last season by finishing in the top half of the table would be battling in the relegation zone. The Chilli Boys have only registered one victory this year, which came early in January.
Remaining fixtures
April 25: Maritzburg Utd (h) April 29 - Pirates (a) May 6: Ajax CT (h) May 14: Highlands Park (a) May 17: SuperSport (h) May 27: FS Stars (a)
Prediction: 10th