It is refreshing for local fans to see a race for the championship, rather than another procession with Sundowns winning by a wide margin as they chase an unprecedented ninth title in a row.
It has been a mostly strong season for Pirates so far, but not without its disappointments. Here is a look at the good and bad of their campaign to date.
Good
Points tally
Pirates are on course for 67 points at their current rate, which would represent their most ever in a PSL season. Their current best is 64 points in a 34-game season (1999/00) and 61 in a 30-game campaign, which actually became 28 matches in 2024/25 due to Royal AM’s demise. It means that this term they are tracking pretty close to last year.
Defence
Just seven goals conceded in 17 league matches, with 12 clean sheets, is an excellent defensive effort, and it is about much more than the goalkeeper and the back four. Defending in modern football starts from the front and is a team effort.
Goals through the team
Ten players have scored in league matches this season, suggesting there are goals from various positions. They are not over-reliant on one scorer, with playmaker Patrick Maswanganyi the leading marksman so far with five goals. The same goes for assists: Dean Hotto and Evidence Makgopa (three each), and Oswin Appollis and Relebohile Mofokeng (four each), have all supplied three or more goals for others.
Discipline
No red cards for any player, and only two have so far reached the four-yellow-card threshold for a suspension (Lebone Seema and Masindi Nemtajela). Their discipline has been excellent, and that is an important factor often overlooked in title-winning teams. They are the “cleanest” team in the league along with Richards Bay.
Holding onto a lead
Once they go ahead, Pirates have been virtually unstoppable this season. They have scored first in 13 games and won 12 of those, their only blemish an off-night against Marumo Gallants in August when they lost 2-1. Since then, it has been close to total dominance once taking the lead.
Good in both halves
Some teams can be slow starters or poor finishers, but Pirates have been equally potent in the first and second halves of matches. They have scored 14 goals in the opening 45 minutes and 12 in the second, a fairly even distribution. They also pop up with late goals, with three of their strikes coming after 90 minutes.
Young legs
Pirates’ line-up against Polokwane City in October (a 1-0 win) had an average age of exactly 25, the second-youngest this season behind Lamontville Golden Arrows (24.2 vs Magesi FC in February). Those fresher, younger legs can be important in the back end of the season when games come thick and fast and recovery is slower for older players.
Bad
Poor dropped points
Losses are a part of football, but it is sometimes how you lose. Pirates may well be left to rue a slow start to the campaign, when they were defeated in their first two league games. The first was at home to Sekhukhune United (0-1), before that shock loss to Gallants where they led and looked in total control before throwing it away.
Battle when behind
Pirates have rescued only a single point from losing positions, which suggests they battle to work their way back into games when they fall behind. It makes the first goal crucial: if they score it, they generally win; if they don’t, then points are hard to come by. They have gone behind four times in games this season.
Slow start to 2026
Pirates have already dropped five points in 2026, and when you compare that to title rivals Sundowns, who have won all four of their league games, it may signal a momentum shift in the title race. It is something they need to arrest soon.
Potent striker
As mentioned, you don’t want to be reliant on one player to win games, but there is also truth in the idea that Pirates may be lacking a potent striker who can score 15-plus goals in a season. Sundowns have a few who can do that if they get a run in the team, but Pirates are essentially reliant on Makgopa (three goals in 14 appearances) and Yanela Mbuthuma (four goals in 11 starts). Can either rack up the kind of numbers they need? History suggests not for Makgopa, whose record league goal tally in a season is seven for Baroka FC in 2020/21, while Mbuthuma has never managed more than five in a campaign.