There is no Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Betway Premiership or Champions League football until October. This is the FIFA international break, and it runs to 6 October. What is actually on is the AFCON 2027 qualifiers from 24 to 28 September, the UEFA Nations League on 25 and 28 September, and MLS, which plays straight through. We have 34 picks on the board across those three competitions, every one with a confidence level attached, and every one graded in public afterwards whether it wins or loses. The Premier League returns on Saturday 10 October.
What is actually on
| Competition | Dates | Our picks | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFCON 2027 qualifiers | 24 to 28 September | 13 | Includes South Africa v Guinea, the pick of the round for a ZA audience |
| UEFA Nations League | 25 and 28 September | 12 | Italy v Belgium and Türkiye v France headline matchday 1 |
| MLS | 24 to 27 September | 9 | The only league of the five we normally cover that keeps playing |
If your usual weekend involves the Premier League or the Betway Premiership, this is the fortnight to either sit out or move your attention to competitions you do not normally follow. We would gently suggest the former. Our own record is weakest exactly where the form book is thinnest, and an international break is the thinnest form book of the year.
When each league comes back
| Competition | Status | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| Premier League | Paused | Saturday 10 October, confirmed on the official fixture list |
| La Liga | Paused | Friday 9 October |
| Serie A | Paused | After 6 October |
| Bundesliga | Paused | After 6 October |
| Betway Premiership | Paused | After 6 October |
| Champions League | Paused | After 6 October |
| MLS | Playing | Continuous through the break |
AFCON 2027 qualifiers: all 13 picks
| Date | Time | Fixture | Our pick | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 24 Sep | 19:00 GMT | Cameroon v Comoros | Cameroon | 74% |
| Thu 24 Sep | 19:00 GMT | Ivory Coast v Ghana | Ivory Coast | 45% |
| Thu 24 Sep | 19:00 GMT | Tunisia v Uganda | Tunisia | 66% |
| Thu 24 Sep | 20:00 GMT | Sierra Leone v Zimbabwe | Sierra Leone | 47% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 13:00 GMT | Mozambique v Senegal | Senegal | 62% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 16:00 GMT | Nigeria v Madagascar | Nigeria | 72% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 19:00 GMT | Egypt v Angola | Egypt | 67% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 19:00 GMT | Algeria v Zambia | Algeria | 65% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 19:00 GMT | Mali v Cape Verde | Mali | 48% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 20:00 GMT | Morocco v Gabon | Morocco | 72% |
| Sat 26 Sep | 15:00 SAST | South Africa v Guinea | South Africa | 58% |
| Mon 28 Sep | 16:00 GMT | Zimbabwe v Congo DR | Congo DR | 44% |
| Mon 28 Sep | 19:00 GMT | Tunisia v Botswana | Tunisia | 75% |
Two of those sit in our strong band at 70% and above, six are good calls between 55% and 69%, and five are close calls we are publishing openly as coin flips rather than dressing up. Ivory Coast v Ghana at 45% is the one we would leave alone entirely.
UEFA Nations League: all 12 picks
| Date | Time (GMT) | Fixture | Our pick | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 25 Sep | 16:00 | Georgia v Northern Ireland | Georgia | 55% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 16:00 | Armenia v Latvia | Armenia | 46% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 18:45 | Italy v Belgium | Italy | 44% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 18:45 | Türkiye v France | France | 56% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 18:45 | Poland v Bosnia-Herzegovina | Poland | 60% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 18:45 | Sweden v Romania | Sweden | 48% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 18:45 | Hungary v Ukraine | Ukraine | 43% |
| Fri 25 Sep | 18:45 | Montenegro v Cyprus | Montenegro | 58% |
| Mon 28 Sep | 16:00 | Georgia v Ukraine | Ukraine | 46% |
| Mon 28 Sep | 18:45 | Belgium v France | France | 42% |
| Mon 28 Sep | 18:45 | Türkiye v Italy | Italy | 45% |
| Mon 28 Sep | 18:45 | Sweden v Poland | Poland | 44% |
We cross-checked all eight matchday 1 fixtures against ESPN’s published schedule on 22 September and they match exactly. Note that not one Nations League pick reaches our strong band. That is deliberate. International football after a long club season, with squads assembled for four days, is the least predictable football there is, and a board full of 70% calls here would be a board that was lying to you.
MLS: all 9 picks
| Date | Time (GMT) | Fixture | Our pick | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 24 Sep | 01:30 | Seattle Sounders v Real Salt Lake | Seattle | 67% |
| Sat 26 Sep | 23:30 | Atlanta United v New York City FC | NYCFC | 45% |
| Sat 26 Sep | 23:30 | CF Montréal v FC Cincinnati | Cincinnati | 64% |
| Sat 26 Sep | 23:30 | Charlotte FC v Chicago Fire | Charlotte | 47% |
| Sat 26 Sep | 23:30 | Philadelphia Union v Orlando City | Philadelphia | 60% |
| Sat 26 Sep | 23:30 | New York Red Bulls v St. Louis City | New York | 52% |
| Sun 27 Sep | 00:30 | Austin FC v San Diego FC | San Diego | 46% |
| Sun 27 Sep | 00:30 | FC Dallas v LAFC | LAFC | 56% |
| Sun 27 Sep | 23:00 | Columbus Crew v Inter Miami | Columbus | 50% |
A warning we are obliged to repeat, because it is on our own record: MLS is our worst-performing league at 10W-11L, a 48% strike rate across 21 graded picks. It is a genuinely hard league to model, the travel distances are enormous and squad rotation is unpredictable. Treat everything in that table with more caution than the number suggests.
Predicted XI: South Africa v Guinea
This is a predicted line-up, not a confirmed one. Confirmed teams are published about an hour before kick-off. Every name below is drawn from the 30-man squad Pitso Mosimane actually named on 17 September, so we are guessing at the shape rather than inventing the personnel.
| Position | Player | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Ronwen Williams | Captain and the least debatable selection in the squad |
| Right back | Thapelo Morena | Experience in a back line otherwise short of it |
| Centre back | Nkosinathi Sibisi | Senior option among fourteen named defenders |
| Centre back | Ime Okon | Has grown into the role across the last cycle |
| Left back | Aubrey Modiba | Fawaaz Basadien is the direct competition here |
| Midfield | Teboho Mokoena | The one automatic pick in midfield |
| Midfield | Sphephelo Sithole | Balance alongside Mokoena |
| Midfield | Bathusi Aubaas | Only five midfielders were named, so three of them start |
| Right wing | Oswin Appollis | Most direct of the wide forwards |
| Centre forward | Iqraam Rayners | Cassius Mailula and Yanela Mbuthuma are the alternatives |
| Left wing | Relebohile Mofokeng | Themba Zwane is the experienced option if Mosimane wants control |
The genuinely open questions are the two centre backs and the centre forward. Mosimane named eleven forwards and only five midfielders, which is a lopsided squad and hints at a front-loaded shape. Lyle Foster was left out, with Mosimane saying he had spoken to the player personally and that Foster had not been playing, was not on the team sheet and had managed only a few minutes here and there.
Guinea, and what we will not pretend to know
Guinea named a 25-man squad under Paulo Duarte: three goalkeepers, ten defenders, five midfielders and seven forwards. The names confirmed in the sources we checked are goalkeepers Soumaila Sylla, Mory Keïta and Mohamed Camara, defenders Sékou Sylla and Mohamed Soumah, midfielders Seydouba Cissé and Moriba Kourouma, and forwards Serhou Guirassy, Yadaly Diaby and Lamine Diaby-Fadiga.
That is ten of twenty-five. We are not going to fill in the other fifteen to make a tidy graphic. If you see a complete Guinea XI published somewhere this week, ask where the other names came from.
Player stats worth knowing
We publish a stat only when we have checked it against a source this week. That makes this table shorter than the ones you will see elsewhere, and every line in it is one you can verify.
| Player | Stat | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Serhou Guirassy (Guinea) | 4 goals and 2 assists in his first 5 matches of the season for Borussia Dortmund | The single biggest reason South Africa at 58% is not a comfortable home banker |
| Ronwen Williams (South Africa) | Retained as first-choice goalkeeper through a change of head coach | Continuity in the one position where Bafana have had none of the usual upheaval |
| Bafana Bafana squad | 30 named on 17 September, cut from a 35-man preliminary list | Eleven forwards to five midfielders is the shape signal |
| Guinea squad | 25 named, 7 of them forwards | Duarte has the options to change the game late, away from home |
How much our confidence numbers are actually worth
Our public record stands at 79 wins from 134 graded picks, 59%. We grade a draw as a loss. Here is what each band has historically returned, so you can price the 34 picks above rather than take them on trust.
| Band | Record | Strike rate | Picks in this round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strong, 70% and up | 19W-3L | 86% | 4 |
| Good, 55% to 69% | 33W-17L | 66% | 12 |
| Close call, under 55% | 27W-35L | 44% | 18 |
It is also worth saying that our AFCON qualifier column starts at zero this week. Every one of those 134 graded picks came from club football, so we have no track record at all in this competition, and the honest thing is to tell you that rather than let the 59% headline imply experience we do not have.
Keep reading
- Bafana Bafana fixtures and our Guinea prediction, the full preview of the pick of the round
- Football betting tips today, the live board with every confidence level attached
- Bet of the day, our single highest-rated pick, including the days we name none
- Double chance, explained, and why it matters most in rounds full of close calls
- Draw no bet, explained, because 31 of our 55 losing picks finished level
- Today’s full prediction board
Written by Carlson Dze Meh. Fixtures cross-checked against ESPN’s published schedules and official federation listings on 22 September 2026. Squad details from the announcements of 17 September 2026. Record figures are our own published graded record, current to 21 September 2026. Line-ups marked predicted are our own projection, not confirmed teams.