Orlando Pirates against Durban City on Thursday at 19:30 is the kind of fixture that decides leaderboards, and so far exactly one Prediz fan has put a score on it.
The numbers make the case for Pirates and then some. Thirteen points from five matches, second in the Betway Premiership only because Mamelodi Sundowns have played three more games, and a goal difference of plus 11 that is comfortably the best return per match in the division. Sundowns are on 20 from eight. If Pirates keep winning the games they have in hand, this table looks very different by the middle of October.
Durban City arrive in the opposite condition. They are still chasing their first three points of the season and have managed one goal in their last four matches. That is the part worth thinking about before you commit a score. A side that cannot score is not usually a side that keeps clean sheets either, but they are also not a side that gives you a 3-2.
There is a squad note too. ESPN report that South Africa winger Mohau Nkota has returned to Pirates on a season-long loan from Saudi Pro League club Al Ettifaq, a year after leaving. Whether he features on Thursday is not for us to say, but Pirates adding attacking depth does not make Durban City's week any easier.
The reason to take this one seriously is that our weekend just showed what happens when fans skip fixtures. Only one or two predictions went in on each of Sunday's three matches, and between all of them our fans produced a single exact score. Philani is 45 points clear at the top of the Betway Premiership leaderboard largely because he keeps showing up for the matches everyone else leaves alone. Thabang on 26 and Lerato on three are not going to close that by predicting the same three big games as everybody else.
Thursday is a standalone evening fixture with nothing else competing for attention, which makes it one of the cleanest chances of the round to bank points. The question is not who wins. It is how heavily, and whether Durban City's drought holds up for another ninety minutes. Get that call right and you gain ground on a week when most of our fans are sitting it out.