The battle for the Motsepe Foundation Championship title looks set to go down to the wire as Casric Stars and Cape Town Spurs are separated by just one point at the top of the table going into the penultimate round of the season.
Casric Stars will be looking to maintain their lead at the summit when they welcome Venda Football Academy to the Solomon Mahlangu Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The MFC newcomers have enjoyed an outstanding 2022-23, losing just four of their 28 matches, one of which came to title rivals Spurs on April 7. However, Stars bounced back with a 1-0 win over University of Pretoria and a 1-1 draw with Pretoria Callies to move into pole position with two fixtures left to play.
VFA are eyeing a top-half finish after a 2-1 victory against the Urban Warriors extended their unbeaten run to three games and took them within two points of Callies (8th) in 10th position.
Cape Town Spurs are determined to get their promotion challenge back on track when they take on NB La Masia at the Dobsonville Stadium.
Spurs dropped down to second place after slipping up against Venda last weekend, having secured back-to-back wins over Stars and Platinum City Rovers prior to that to keep their automatic promotion hopes alive.
La Masia are undefeated in their last two outings, with a 2-1 win against Callies ensuring their MFC status before a 1-1 draw with University of Pretoria lifted them up to 13th spot, eight points clear of the drop zone.
Polokwane City will look to put pressure on the top two when they lock horns with Platinum City Rovers at Olen Park.
Rise And Shine lost more ground in the race for the championship crown after a 1-0 defeat to Uthongathi extended their winless run to two matches and left them three points adrift of Stars in third spot.
Rovers (14th) avoided the drop courtesy of a 2-0 victory over rock-bottom Black Leopards, which confirmed Lidoda Duvha's relegation alongside TTM in 15th place.
Meanwhile, Hungry Lions travel to Baroka looking to keep their faint promotion challenge going.
Lions are four points shy of Polokwane City in fourth spot after a 2-1 triumph against TTM saw them go four games unbeaten, with Bakgaga moving up to 11th in the standings following a 2-1 success over Magesi, which arrested a two-game winless run.
The rest of the teams have nothing to play for but pride as All Stars (5th) aim to keep their 10-match undefeated streak intact against Black Leopards at the Thohoyandou Stadium.
JDR Stars (6th) will also be defending an unbeaten sequence stretching back five games when they face Pretoria Callies at the TUT Stadium, while Magesi (12th) host Uthongathi (7th) at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium and University of Pretoria (9th) entertain TTM at the Tuks Stadium.
Matchday 29 fixtures:
Sunday, April 7
15h00: Baroka v Hungry Lions
15h00: Black Leopards v All Stars
15h00: Casric Stars v Venda Football Academy
15h00: Magesi v Uthongathi
15h00: NB La Masia v Cape Town Spurs
15h00: Platinum City Rovers v Polokwane City
15h00: Pretoria Callies v JDR Stars
15h00: University of Pretoria v TTM