Who will win 2025/26 PSL title after Kaizer Chiefs' Nedbank Cup success? Two-time league champion predicts top three teams as Orlando Pirates look to end Mamelodi Sundowns' dominance- 'I'm brutally honest!'

The 2025/26 South African top-flight season is scheduled to start on August 2 with the MTN8.

The Premier Soccer League will start on August 8, with the defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns determined to defend their title successfully.

While Orlando Pirates will be hoping to challenge Masandawana, their traditional rivals Kaizer Chiefs are aiming to at least get into the top positions after struggling in the last two editions.

Last season, Sundowns won the PSL title for the eighth time in a row, as Pirates finished third for the third consecutive year.

The Buccaneers have been trying to buy quality players to help them bridge the gap at the top, and their legend Benedict 'Tso' Vilakazi insists they will finally deliver in the 2025/26 edition.

He has further stated it is boring to see Sundowns winning back-to-back league titles, but is not seeing that happening under coach Miguel Cardoso.

Stellenbosch have been tipped to finish third once again.

“Number three will remain the same, it’s going to be Stellenbosch,” he said as quoted by iDiski Times.
“Let’s check Steve Barker’s record for the past three seasons; even if they take his players, he is always up there. The other team that I think they do have potential, but at the end of the day, it will be up to them, it’s Sekhukhune [United]. They have got potential to end in third.

“If [Miguel] Cardoso is still going to be the Sundowns coach, Sundowns will be number two with that squad. I have analysed Sundowns and when I look at how they play, there’s games where the coach will win you games and there’s games where players will win you games," Vilakazi, who won the league twice with Pirates, continues.

“For Sundowns, it’s players who are winning games; when they lose, is because the input of the coach was not good enough.

“Pirates have got what it takes to win the league. They have shown last season that they can do it. I don’t want people to take this the wrong way I’m just going to be brutally honest.

“I’m pushing Pirates, I’m putting pressure on them to revive our football. It’s not to say what Sundowns has been doing is not right, because they have been winning.

“We just want that change. It tends to really bore us," he concluded.

Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou is under massive pressure to ensure Pirates don't struggle in their bid to challenge for the league crown.

It will be vital for him to advance to the semi-final of MTN8; on Saturday, they will play Polokwane City in the quarter-final to be staged at the Orlando Stadium.