After the in-form Orlando Pirates suffered a shock loss to Stellenbosch on Sunday, their coach, José Riveiro, remarked that 60 points at the end of the season was not enough to lift the inaugural Betway Premiership trophy.
In the past four Premiership seasons, the mighty Mamelodi Sundowns were unstoppable, and their final points tallies were 73 points, 70, 65, and 67. These point hauls by Sundowns were all runaway winning margins, ranging between 23 and 13 points.
What has become clear is that the form and results of the Premiership this season suggest the championship will be keenly contested. Perennial favourites Sundowns, who have won every Premiership title since the 2017/18 season, have not had things their way this season.
Presently, their form does not suggest they will be anything near invincible and this season they have already tasted defeat four times across the board. Last season, Cape Town City dashed Sundowns' invincible dream by defeating them in the final Premiership match of the season.
Just when it seemed that Pirates could dream about that tag, they were defeated by a Stellenbosch team who had spent the past week travelling more to and from Mali, than on a training pitch.
And then there was Magesi FC, who defeated Sundowns in the Carling Knockout final. Earlier, Pirates suffered the same fate in the opening round. This underlined the fact that this season no team is unbeatable, despite the obvious advantages of resources and squads with great depth.
Riveiro's remark about 60 points may be way off because it's unlikely that the two most-fancied teams, Sundowns and Pirates, will dominate the rest of the season. Riveiro said that results are no longer a foregone conclusion because all the Premiership teams are strong and improving all the time. At Sunday's post-match presser, Riveiro illustrated this point by saying Pirates scraped a win over lowly Chippa United with a last-minute goal.
Although Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has never said as much, his side has won when they could have lost in the past because of favourable refereeing decisions or just downright good luck.
Who will forget the match against relegated-haunted Cape Town Spurs last season at Athlone Stadium, where Sundowns were awarded a dubious penalty, which became the match decider?
The one thing in favour of the teams going up against Sundowns and Pirates is that they will have more time to prepare. Sundowns and Pirates are playing in the CAF Champions League, and both teams are likely to progress beyond the group stages into the play-off rounds.
There is also the consideration of these two teams supplying the bulk of Bafana Bafana's team, and all of these commitments could take its toll on the players. Remember, Mngqithi raised concerns about preparing his team for the Carling Knockout final in the week when more than half his starting line-up was on national team duty.
At the time, it was hard to appreciate Mngqithi's concerns because the Sundowns squad has so much depth that their second-string side could ride roughshod over Magesi.
The situation for Sundowns and Pirates could be particularly dire because the Premiership season started very late. By this time, the Premiership should be reaching the halfway point, and this is not the case presently. That means the race to finish the Premiership on time could place the top dogs under greater pressure than ever before.