Mamelodi Sundowns, checked 2 October 2026. Sundowns lead the Betway Premiership on 20 points from 8 games and are still unbeaten, with 6 wins and 2 draws. The news that matters right now is the calendar. League football is paused for the FIFA international break, so the next Sundowns match is the MTN8 final against Orlando Pirates at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, on Saturday 10 October at 18:00, and the league restarts away at Richards Bay on Tuesday 13 October at 19:30. Their CAF Champions League title defence begins in the second preliminary round against Wiliete of Angola, away first in the 16 to 18 October window. Every confirmed date is on our Mamelodi Sundowns fixtures page.
Where Mamelodi Sundowns sit right now
| Measure | Mamelodi Sundowns |
|---|---|
| Log position | 1st of 16 |
| Games played | 8 |
| Won, drawn, lost | 6, 2, 0 |
| Points | 20 |
| Lead at the top | 1 point clear of Orlando Pirates, who have played a game fewer |
| Defeats | None yet |
Position, games played, results and points cross-checked against the ESPN South African Premiership standings feed and the SuperSport Betway Premiership table on 25 September 2026, and re-checked against the ESPN feed on 2 October 2026. Goal difference is omitted because our two sources have never agreed on it, and we do not publish a number we cannot confirm twice.
Recent Mamelodi Sundowns results
| Date | Match | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 12 Sep 2026 | Chippa United v Mamelodi Sundowns | 1-1 | Draw, away |
| Wed 9 Sep 2026 | Mamelodi Sundowns v Siwelele | 3-0 | Win, home |
| Sun 6 Sep 2026 | Golden Arrows v Mamelodi Sundowns | 1-2 | Win, away |
| Wed 2 Sep 2026 | Mamelodi Sundowns v Milford FC | 2-0 | Win, home |
Scores taken from the SuperSport Betway Premiership results page on 25 September 2026 and re-checked against the ESPN team schedule on 2 October 2026. The full season, with running points, is on the fixtures page.
Sundowns reached the MTN8 final the hard way. They won the semi-final second leg 3-2 away at Golden Arrows, which left the tie level at 3-3 on aggregate, and they went through on away goals. Orlando Pirates got there by beating Sekhukhune United 3-0 at home for a 4-0 aggregate. Those two routes to the same final are the single biggest reason our pick for it reads the way it does below.
Next Mamelodi Sundowns fixtures, with our picks
| Date | Kick-off (SAST) | Fixture | Venue | Our pick | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 10 Oct 2026 | 18:00 | Orlando Pirates v Mamelodi Sundowns, MTN8 final | Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban | Orlando Pirates | 53% Close call |
| Tue 13 Oct 2026 | 19:30 | Richards Bay v Mamelodi Sundowns | Princess Magogo Stadium | Mamelodi Sundowns | 76% Strong |
| 16 to 18 Oct 2026 | To be confirmed | Wiliete v Mamelodi Sundowns, CAF Champions League second preliminary round first leg | Angola | Mamelodi Sundowns | 58% Good |
| 23 to 25 Oct 2026 | To be confirmed | Mamelodi Sundowns v Wiliete, second leg | South Africa | Mamelodi Sundowns | 80% Strong |
| Sun 1 Nov 2026 | 15:30 | Mamelodi Sundowns v Durban City | Loftus Versfeld Stadium | Mamelodi Sundowns | 79% Strong |
The two league fixtures and their venues were confirmed against both the SuperSport Betway Premiership fixture list and the ESPN South African Premiership feed on 2 October 2026. Kick-off times are South African time: the SuperSport list prints them unlabelled at 17:30 and 13:30, the ESPN feed labels the same values UTC, and South Africa is two hours ahead, so an earlier version of this page showed both league times two hours early. That is now corrected. The MTN8 final date, venue and 18:00 kick-off were confirmed by the league on 28 September. The CAF Champions League tie is confirmed as Sundowns against Wiliete of Angola in the second preliminary round, with the confederation windows given as 16 to 18 October and 23 to 25 October. Exact dates, times and venues for those two legs were not confirmed when we checked.
Why we are picking against the league leaders in the MTN8 final
Picking Orlando Pirates in a final against the side top of the log needs an explanation, so here it is. Sundowns lead the Betway Premiership on 20 points, but they have played eight matches to Pirates seven. Divide points by matches and the order flips: Pirates are earning 2.71 points a game, Sundowns 2.50. Over a full 30-game season that gap is the difference between roughly 81 points and roughly 75.
Then there is how each side arrived. Pirates removed Sekhukhune 4-0 on aggregate without conceding. Sundowns needed away goals to get past Golden Arrows, a club currently eighth on 8 points. One of those is the performance of a team in form.
None of that makes Pirates likely to win, which is why the number is 53 and not 65. A cup final on a neutral ground, between two unbeaten sides, is close to a coin toss and we are labelling it as one. If you are looking for a pick to lean on this month, it is Richards Bay at home to Sundowns, not this.
Sundowns against Pirates, on the numbers
| Measure | Mamelodi Sundowns | Orlando Pirates |
|---|---|---|
| Log position | 1st | 2nd |
| Games played | 8 | 7 |
| Won, drawn, lost | 6, 2, 0 | 6, 1, 0 |
| Points | 20 | 19 |
| Points per game | 2.50 | 2.71 |
| 30-game projection | 75 points | 81 points |
| Share of league matches drawn | 2 of 8, 25.0% | 1 of 7, 14.3% |
| Share of points earned from draws | 2 of 20, 10.0% | 1 of 19, 5.3% |
| Route to the MTN8 final | Away goals, 3-3 on aggregate | 4-0 on aggregate |
Points per game is points divided by games played from the verified log. The 30-game projection multiplies that rate by the 30 league matches each club plays in a 16-team season, and it is a projection of current rate rather than a forecast of the final table. The underlying log passes its own arithmetic check: across all 16 clubs the wins column and the losses column both total 34, and 34 plus the 23 drawn matches gives the 57 league matches played so far.
Our graded record, including the losses
Across every competition we cover, our published record is 98 wins and 71 losses from 169 graded picks, 58 percent. Our Betway Premiership column is our worst of any league: 6 wins and 7 losses, 46 percent from 13 graded picks. That is a losing column, it sits on this page next to our Sundowns picks, and we are not going to bury it.
| Record | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|
| All competitions, all time | 98W-71L, 58% | 169 graded picks |
| Betway Premiership | 6W-7L, 46% | 13 picks, our weakest league |
| Picks in Mamelodi Sundowns matches | 3W-0L | Three picks only, far too small to mean anything |
| Strong picks, 70% and up | 23W-4L, 85% | Across all competitions |
The three graded Sundowns picks are the 26 August home win over AmaZulu, the 2 September home win over Milford and the 6 September away win at Golden Arrows. All three were correct. Three from three is not a hit rate, it is a small sample, and quoting it as 100 percent would be exactly the kind of number this site exists to avoid. The honest version is that we have picked Sundowns three times, we were right three times, and the league column those picks sit inside is losing money.
The MTN8 final pick and the two CAF Champions League picks above are the first we have ever published in those competitions. Both columns start at zero and both will be graded in public, win or lose. Every figure on this page was re-verified against the live pick log on our home page on 2 October 2026.
Reading our confidence figures. Strong means 70 percent and up, and that band is running at 23 wins and 4 losses. Good means 55 to 69. A close call is under 55 percent and is us telling you the match is near a coin toss. We never publish a pick for a match kicking off within the hour, and we never remove a pick that lost.
Related pages
- Mamelodi Sundowns standings 2026-27: 1st on 20 points, and level with Pirates at equal games
- Mamelodi Sundowns fixtures 2026-27: dates, SAST times and our picks
- Sundowns v Durban City, 1 November: our 79 percent pick
- AmaZulu v Golden Arrows, 31 October: our pick
- Orlando Pirates: fixtures, log position and our picks
- Kaizer Chiefs: fixtures, log position and our picks
- Betway Premiership log, points per game and the full 16-club table
- Soweto Derby 2026: date, time and our prediction
- Betway Premiership hub: club pages and our PSL record
- Bafana Bafana fixtures, kick-off times and our picks
- Draw no bet, and the draw trap that costs us PSL picks
- PSL fixtures 2026-27: every date, time and venue
- MTN8 final preview: Orlando Pirates v Mamelodi Sundowns, 10 October
- Richards Bay v Mamelodi Sundowns, 13 October: our 76 percent pick
- Football betting tips today
- Bet of the day
- The full graded record, every pick and every loss
Predictions on this page are our own opinion and nothing here is a guarantee. Betting carries real financial risk. You must be 18 or over to bet in South Africa. Set a limit before you start, never chase a loss, and never stake money you need. If gambling has stopped being fun, the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation counselling line is 0800 006 008 and it is free and confidential.