Orlando Pirates legend Lawrence 'Killer' Maake has spoken out about his expectations for this season's league title race, revealing his 'silent hope' for Kaizer Chiefs, who are under a new-look technical team.
Defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns returned to the top of the table following a 2-1 win over Royal AM at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday.
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They are now tied on 12 points with Pirates, a side that is expected to take them all the way in the race for top honours.
Maake, however, expects The Brazilians, who are chasing an eighth consecutive league title triumph, to defend their trophy rather comfortably.
"Pirates and Sundowns can be equal on everything, but it's still very early. We have only played so many games," says the ex-striker, speaking to KickOff.com.
"I'm waiting to see if, as Pirates, we can be consistent and challenge them. But to take the league, I doubt we can do it.
"The depth that Sundowns have is bigger than anybody else's in terms of availability of players, and that gives them an unfair edge over other teams.
"When they have an injury, they will always have one or two replacements - I'm talking top-class replacements.
"So, for us, to compete with them is gonna be a bit challenging. But I think it's important for us to start as we did. Maybe it's gonna take us somewhere," he adds.
The former striker also talks about his hope for Amakhosi, whose last trophy won was the league title, back in May 2015.
"I think it's gonna be a two-horse race between Sundowns and Pirates, although I'm silently hoping to see Kaizer Chiefs coming to the party.
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"It's good for the national team if we have more than two big teams on top of their game.
"I don't expect a photo-finish though. Maybe in a year or two, we might see the gap getting narrower, but not now. That Sundowns team is in their own league. The fact is that they have all the good players."