Royal have 46 points and a +13 goal difference and City, who lost their final league game 1-0 against Stellenbosch FC at Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday, have 49 and a +8 difference. A win for AM against Sundowns will take them level on 49 points with City, but with a better goal difference.
It also is entirely possible Royal will have to settle for third place if they lose against Sundowns and against Pirates at Chatsworth Stadium on Friday night.
The other game called off because of heavy rains in Durban on Saturday — AmaZulu against Lamontville Golden Arrows at Moses Mabhida Stadium — has been rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon (3pm).
Pirates’ three rescheduled games are against Maritzburg United at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday (7.30pm), Royal in Durban on Friday night (7.30pm), and SuperSport United at Lucas Moripe Stadium next Monday (7.30pm).
Royal can snatch second, Sundowns’ Shalulile eyes Mbesuma’s record
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
Mamelodi Sundowns striker Peter Shalulile can match Collins Mbesuma’s 23-year-old DStv Premiership scoring record on Monday afternoon, but he will need a hat-trick to do it.
Royal AM can snatch second place with a game to spare as they line up again at Chatsworth Stadium on Monday afternoon (3pm) against Sundowns in the game abandoned midway through the first half due to torrential rain and a waterlogged pitch on Saturday.
Downs, who wrapped up the title with four games to spare, had to have their lifting of the trophy postponed by two days.
Tightest race in years: Zwane, Jali and Shalulile chip for Player of the Season
One of the players influential in the Brazilians’ unprecedented fifth successive title was Namibian hitman Shalulile with 22 goals.
Shalulile would equal Mbesuma’s 25 goals the Zambian scored when Kaizer Chiefs won the league under Ted Dumitru in 2004-2005 if the Downs striker scored his third hat-trick of the season against Royal.
That seems a long shot, even for in-form Shalulile. Royal have had an outstanding first season in the top-flight.
Orlando Pirates’ participation in the Caf Confederation Cup final means Royal have two matches to overtake second-placed Cape Town City. But the Durban team can snatch the runners-up spot with a game to spare if they beat Sundowns.
This is what it took for MaMkhize’s Royal AM to bend the ball their way
Royal have 46 points and a +13 goal difference and City, who lost their final league game 1-0 against Stellenbosch FC at Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday, have 49 and a +8 difference. A win for AM against Sundowns will take them level on 49 points with City, but with a better goal difference.
It also is entirely possible Royal will have to settle for third place if they lose against Sundowns and against Pirates at Chatsworth Stadium on Friday night.
The other game called off because of heavy rains in Durban on Saturday — AmaZulu against Lamontville Golden Arrows at Moses Mabhida Stadium — has been rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon (3pm).
Pirates’ three rescheduled games are against Maritzburg United at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday (7.30pm), Royal in Durban on Friday night (7.30pm), and SuperSport United at Lucas Moripe Stadium next Monday (7.30pm).
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