Analysis
Nobody has beaten Kaizer Chiefs in the league this season. Say it out loud at a braai in Soweto and watch the circle split in two. Half the circle hears a team that has finally learned to stop losing. The other half hears a team that has forgotten how to win. Both halves have a point, and the Kaizer Chiefs draws stats explain why. Eight games, three wins, five draws, no defeats, 14 points and fourth place. Underneath that tidy line sit two leads thrown away in the last 20 minutes, one game of possession that went nowhere, and a gap to the top that has grown to nine points.
Kaizer Chiefs draws stats: the number
Start with the line on the log. Fernando Da Cruz’s side have played eight Betway Premiership matches and lost none of them. That is a real achievement, and IOL notes that Mamelodi Sundowns are unbeaten too. TimesLIVE has Chiefs fourth.
Here is every league result so far, from the PSL Match Centre and the clubs’ own match reports.
| Date | Match | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 August | Kruger United v Chiefs | Won 3-1 |
| 12 August | Chiefs v Sekhukhune United | Won 2-0 |
| 15 August | Chiefs v Mamelodi Sundowns | Drew 1-1 |
| 26 August | Richards Bay v Chiefs | Drew 2-2 |
| 6 September | Chiefs v Siwelele | Won 3-2 |
| 12 September | Polokwane City v Chiefs | Drew 1-1 |
| 20 September | Golden Arrows v Chiefs | Drew 0-0 |
| 13 October | Chiefs v Stellenbosch | Drew 1-1 |
By our count from those results, that is 13 goals scored and eight conceded, with two clean sheets. It is the record of a side that is hard to beat.
What the number seems to say
Read the table quickly and it says solid. A team that never loses has a defence, a spine and a manager whose plan the players trust. After three games Chiefs were top of the league with seven points, according to both the club and TimesLIVE. After four they were third.
Then the draws took over. Since the win over Siwelele on 6 September, Chiefs have drawn three league games in a row: at Polokwane City, at Golden Arrows and at home to Stellenbosch on Tuesday. Two goals scored across those three matches, and two conceded, one of them an own goal.
Meanwhile the leaders kept moving. Sundowns have 23 points from nine matches, TimesLIVE reports, and Orlando Pirates are a point behind them with a game in hand. Chiefs are nine points off the top. The table says unbeaten. It also says falling behind.
What actually happened
The matches tell a sharper story than the log does, because the draws were not all the same kind of draw.
The leads that slipped. Against Sundowns at FNB Stadium on 15 August, Langelihle Phili gave Chiefs the lead on 62 minutes. Cassius Mailula, off the bench, equalised on 75. At Polokwane on 12 September, Lebohang Maboe scored on 29 minutes and Chiefs, by the club’s own account, were on top for much of the game. On 73 minutes a corner went in off goalkeeper Brandon Petersen. Two matches, two leads, both lost in the last 20 minutes. That is four points dropped from winning positions.
The comebacks. Away to Richards Bay in August, Chiefs fell behind twice to Nqaba Xulu goals and pulled level twice, through a Maboe penalty and a late Siphesihle Ndlovu finish on 77 minutes. On Tuesday they went behind to Stellenbosch just after half-time and needed Mduduzi Shabalala to rescue a point, as our Chiefs v Stellenbosch report describes. Those draws were points won, not points lost.
The blank. Then there was the 0-0 against Golden Arrows on 20 September, the only match this season for which we could find an official team stat sheet, on the Kaizer Chiefs Match Centre. It is the clearest example of all.
| Golden Arrows v Chiefs, 20 September | Arrows | Chiefs |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 44% | 56% |
| Shots | 10 | 10 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 1 |
| Passes | 239 | 383 |
| Corners | 1 | 7 |
Chiefs had more of the ball, made far more passes (383 to 239) and won seven corners to one. They managed one shot on target in 90 minutes. That is the textbook gap between control and threat.
Why the gap exists
Put the three kinds of draw together and the picture changes. Chiefs are not leaking goals. Eight conceded in eight matches is a respectable return. The difference is at the other end of the game and at the end of matches.
First, the late goals. Both leads that slipped went in the final 20 minutes, and one of them came from a set piece. A side that leads into the last 20 minutes and does not close it out is not a defensive problem in the usual sense. It is a game-management problem: substitutions, shape, the decision to keep the ball or keep the lead.
Second, the finishing. Thirteen goals in eight games is a decent tally, but eight of them came in the three wins. In the five draws Chiefs scored five, never more than two in a game. When the first goal does not come, a second rarely follows. The Arrows sheet suggests why: plenty of the ball, little reaching the goalkeeper.
Third, the calendar. Chiefs played no league match between 20 September and 13 October. More than three weeks without league football, then a Tuesday night at FNB Stadium against a side who struck the upright before half-time. That is context, not an excuse, but it matters when reading Tuesday’s draw.
What the stats do not show is how many clear chances Chiefs created in the other seven games, or what they conceded. No official chance or expected-goals figures are published for those matches, so we have not guessed them. The honest reading is narrower: four points thrown away late, and one game where the numbers show territory without teeth.
What it means next
The good news for Amakhosi supporters: if the two late leads had held, Chiefs would have 18 points instead of 14. The margins are thin, and they are fixable. Neither problem is a crisis of quality.
The bad news is the calendar. First comes continental football: two Confederation Cup games against Red Arrows, according to SNL24. Then the Soweto Derby against Pirates on Saturday 31 October at FNB Stadium, according to the club’s own fixture list, with Orlando Pirates, a point behind Sundowns with a game in hand, also still unbeaten by the PSL log. Above them, Mamelodi Sundowns put four past Richards Bay on Tuesday, as our Richards Bay v Sundowns report shows. Our Tuesday night fixture guide set up a round in which Sundowns and Pirates both won. Chiefs did not.
Unbeaten is a foundation. It is not yet a title challenge. The next six weeks will tell us which one this is.
Frequently asked questions
Are Kaizer Chiefs unbeaten in the Betway Premiership this season?
Yes. After eight league matches Chiefs have won three and drawn five, with no defeats. IOL reports that Mamelodi Sundowns are also unbeaten.
How many draws have Kaizer Chiefs had in a row?
Three. Chiefs drew 1-1 at Polokwane City on 12 September, 0-0 at Golden Arrows on 20 September and 1-1 at home to Stellenbosch on 13 October.
Where are Kaizer Chiefs on the log?
Fourth, on 14 points from eight games, according to TimesLIVE after Tuesday’s round. Sundowns lead with 23 points from nine, and Pirates are a point behind them with a game in hand.
How many points have Chiefs dropped from winning positions?
Four, by our count from the official results. Chiefs led Sundowns from the 62nd minute until the 75th, and led Polokwane City from the 29th minute until a 73rd-minute own goal.
When do Kaizer Chiefs play Orlando Pirates?
The Soweto Derby is on Saturday 31 October 2026 at 15:30 SAST at FNB Stadium, according to the Kaizer Chiefs fixture list. Before that, SNL24 says, Chiefs face Red Arrows twice in the Confederation Cup.