Betway Prem Preview: Arrows vs Pirates by the Numbers

Golden Arrows and Orlando Pirates are set to meet in their 49th league clash since their first encounter in the 2000–01 season.

 Historically, this fixture has heavily favoured Orlando Pirates, who have claimed 26 wins compared to Arrows’ seven, with 15 matches ending in draws.

Across the 48 previous meetings, a total of 105 goals have been scored at an average of 2.2 goals per game. Pirates have contributed 71 of those goals, averaging 1.48 per match, while Arrows have managed 34, at a rate of 0.71 per game.

Goals have been a regular feature in this fixture, with 79% of matches producing at least one. However, the most common scoreline is 0-0, occurring 10 times, including the last nine drawn matches between the sides. The most frequent winning scoreline is 2-1, which has occurred on nine occasions.

Pirates come into this match on a dominant run, unbeaten in their last eight league games against Arrows, winning six and drawing two. They’ve won the last six encounters, scoring 19 goals and conceding just four.

This current streak is their second-longest against Arrows, behind a nine-match winning run between 2009 and 2014. Arrows’ last victory over Pirates came in February 2021, a 2-0 home win courtesy of a Pule Mmodi brace.

Last season, Pirates completed a third consecutive league double over Arrows, and their seventh overall. In May 2025, they won 2-1 away, with Patrick Maswanganyi scoring the 100th goal in the fixture’s history.

A week later, they triumphed 3-0 at home, with goals from Tshegofatso Mabasa, Bandile Shandu, and Kabelo Dlamini. Dlamini’s goal came from a direct free kick — one of only ten scored in the league last season — and he was the only player to score two direct free kicks in the campaign.

Arrows have hosted Pirates 24 times, winning five, drawing six, and losing 13. They are winless in their last four home games against Pirates, losing the last three — their worst home run against the Buccaneers since a five-match losing streak between 2010 and 2016. In their last eight home games against Pirates, Arrows have managed just one win.

The fixture’s highest-scoring match came in the 2023–24 season when Pirates thrashed Arrows 7-1, their biggest win over Arrows and one of the highest margins in the PSL era. Only their 8-1 win over Marumo Gallants last season surpasses it.

Former Pirates striker Tendai Ndoro and current forward Tshegofatso Mabasa are joint top scorers in this fixture, each with five goals. With Pirates in strong form and Arrows struggling to break their home hoodoo, the stats suggest another tough outing for the Durban-based side.