Is Bobby Motaung right, can Nasreddine Nabi's Kaizer Chiefs really win the Premier Soccer League title this season?

The Soweto giants might arguably be playing better football than last season since Nasreddine Nabi took over, however, they remain just as inconsistent.

Amakhosi have won just seven times this season, losing six times and playing four draws, which leaves them in fifth place with 25 points.

For Motaung’s wish to become a reality, Chiefs would need to start winning games of football more consistently and in a convincing fashion to boost their goal difference.

Amakhosi have no room for error if they wish to catch up with runaway leaders Sundowns, who would also need to drop an awful lot of points from now until the end of the season.

Any team that harbours hopes of winning the PSL will, unfortunately, have the mighty Sundowns to deal with, and that has proven to be a very difficult task over the last couple of campaigns.

The Tshwane giants have been a dominant force in the PSL over the past decade or so, winning the last seven league titles on the spin.

And if that is not daunting enough for Chiefs to deal with, there’s also the small matter of a Pirates side that is quickly growing into a strong title contender under Jose Riveiro.

Chiefs, who have already lost to both of these teams this season, will need a big change in fortunes, but one feels this could be a tall order this season.

So far, Amakhosi have dismally failed just about every solid test of their title credentials, hence they have fallen down the league standings.

Nevertheless, their football manager insists they are still in the race, and to keep those slim hopes alive, they have to pass the remaining tests with flying colours.

They will front up to defending champions Sundowns early next month and having suffered a 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier this season, Nabi’s men can’t afford another defeat.

Their biggest tests, though, will come in May when they face all of Pirates, Polokwane City and Sekhukhune United.

This season, Chiefs have not had a consistent standout performer who can keep them in the conversation for the league title.

Their best player, youngster Mduduzi Shabalala, has been disturbed by injuries and is now slowly trying to regain his mojo and sharpness.

Nabi will need his big players like Gaston Sirino, and the newly signed trio of Glody Lilepo, Thabo Cele and Tashreeq Morris to raise their hands and up their contributions.

Since joining Chiefs at the beginning of the season, Nabi has consistently insisted that transforming the club’s fortunes will be a ‘process’ that needs patience.

At the midway point of the campaign, however, Nabi still doesn’t seem to have a consistent starting 11 that he can completely trust to do the job.

He hardly fields the same team for more than two games, albeit injuries have also contributed, and this could be a cause for concern indicating he is still not convinced with the quality of his players.

Nabi will need to settle on a system that best suits the kind of players at his disposal with the fans guaranteed to turn on him should the situation deteriorate.

PSL

Kaizer Chiefs

Mamelodi Sundowns

Nabi explains the transfer signings of Morris, Cele and Lilepo