Today's picks

Orlando Pirates News, Fixtures and Predictions: Second on the Log and Still Unbeaten

Orlando Pirates, checked 23 September 2026. Pirates are second in the Betway Premiership on 19 points from 7 games, one point behind Mamelodi Sundowns, who have played a game more. The record reads 6 wins and 1 draw, and they have not lost. Their last outing was a 2-0 win away at Marumo Gallants on Sunday 20 September, their third clean sheet in a row. League football is paused for the FIFA international break, so the next Pirates fixture is at home to TS Galaxy on Sunday 18 October at Orlando Stadium, and they host Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto Derby on Saturday 31 October.

Where Orlando Pirates sit right now

Measure Orlando Pirates
Log position 2nd of 16
Games played 7
Won, drawn, lost 6, 1, 0
Points 19
Behind the leaders 1 point behind Mamelodi Sundowns, with a game in hand
Defeats None yet

Position, games played, results and points cross-checked against the SuperSport Betway Premiership table and the ESPN South African Premiership standings feed on 23 September 2026. Goal difference and goals for and against are omitted because the two sources did not agree on them, and we do not publish a number we cannot confirm twice.

Recent Orlando Pirates results

Date Match Score Result
Sun 20 Sep 2026 Marumo Gallants v Orlando Pirates 0-2 Win, away, clean sheet
Thu 17 Sep 2026 Orlando Pirates v Durban City 2-0 Win, home, clean sheet
Tue 1 Sep 2026 Kruger United v Orlando Pirates 0-4 Win, away, clean sheet

Scores taken from the SuperSport Betway Premiership results page on 23 September 2026. We list only the matches we verified this week rather than filling the table out from memory. Across those three matches Pirates scored 8 and conceded 0.

Next Orlando Pirates fixtures, with our picks

Date Kick-off (SAST) Fixture Venue Our pick Confidence
Sun 18 Oct 2026 16:00 Orlando Pirates v TS Galaxy Orlando Stadium Orlando Pirates 71% Strong
Sat 31 Oct 2026 13:30 Orlando Pirates v Kaizer Chiefs Orlando Stadium Orlando Pirates 58% Good
Wed 4 Nov 2026 17:30 Siwelele v Orlando Pirates Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Orlando Pirates 68% Good

Fixtures, dates and venues confirmed against both the SuperSport Betway Premiership fixture list and the ESPN South African Premiership feed on 23 September 2026. Kick-off times follow the SuperSport listing. Times this far ahead do move for broadcast, so treat them as scheduled rather than final.

Why the TS Galaxy game is the one strong pick here

This is the only Betway Premiership fixture on our board right now carrying a confidence figure of 70 percent or above, and we do not hand that label out lightly. Pirates are unbeaten with 6 wins from 7 and kept a clean sheet in each of the three most recent matches we checked. TS Galaxy are twelfth on 6 points with 1 win from 7. Home side, best defensive run in the league on the evidence we verified, against a team that has beaten one opponent all season.

The Siwelele fixture sits slightly lower at 68 percent for one reason: it is away, on 4 November, in a midweek round. Siwelele are fifteenth and have not won a game, but they have drawn three of seven, and away midweek matches against bottom-half sides who specialise in the low-scoring draw are precisely where our picks in this league have been going wrong.

The number that makes Pirates predictable

We took the verified 16-team log and counted the season to date. This is why Pirates fixtures carry our higher confidence figures while most Betway Premiership fixtures do not.

Betway Premiership 2026-27 so far Figure
League matches played 57
Matches that ended level 23
League-wide share of matches drawn 40.4%
Orlando Pirates games drawn 1 of 7, 14.3%
Kaizer Chiefs games drawn 4 of 7, 57.1%

Computed from the 16-team log verified on 23 September 2026: total games played divided by two gives 57 matches, and the drawn column across all clubs divided by two gives 23 drawn matches. The wins and losses columns balance at 34 each, which is the arithmetic check that the underlying table is sound.

Two matches in five in this league end level, and a draw is a losing pick for us because a pick that names a winner and gets a draw has lost. Pirates are the outlier: one draw in seven, against a league average that is nearly three times that rate. A team that resolves its matches is a team our model can actually price, and that is the whole reason a Pirates fixture can reach 71 percent while a Chiefs fixture against a mid-table side sits at 52.

What 19 points from 7 games projects to

Club Points per game 30-game projection
Orlando Pirates 2.71 81 points
Mamelodi Sundowns 2.50 75 points
AmaZulu 2.29 69 points
Kaizer Chiefs 1.86 56 points

Pirates are one point behind Sundowns with a game in hand, and on current rate they are the projected champions rather than the challengers. The caveat is that seven games is seven games, and Sundowns have a habit of grinding out title-winning runs that current form tables never see coming. The first real test of the projection is 31 October.

Our graded record, including the losses

Across every league we cover, our published record is 79 wins and 55 losses from 134 graded picks, 59 percent. Our Betway Premiership column is our worst: 6 wins and 7 losses, 46 percent from 13 graded picks. That is a losing column. We publish it because a record nobody can check is worth nothing, and because the honest version is the only thing that separates this site from the hundred others posting tips.

Record Result Note
All leagues, all time 79W-55L, 59% 134 graded picks
Betway Premiership 6W-7L, 46% 13 picks, our weakest league
Strong picks, 70% and up 19W-3L, 86% Across all leagues

We do not publish a club-by-club split for Pirates yet, because 13 PSL picks in total is far too small a sample to slice by club without the number being noise. Every individual pick is listed in the public log on our home page with its result attached. Verified against the live site on 23 September 2026.

Reading our confidence figures. Strong means 70 percent and up, and that band is running at 19 wins and 3 losses across all leagues. 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.

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.