Online Reporter
Howard Musonza
Head, Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Castle Lager Premier Soccer League has rarely felt this unpredictable.
Fourteen rounds in, and the 2025 campaign is ripping up the old order, handing the spotlight to ambitious newcomers while traditional heavyweights struggle to find their rhythm.
With debutants MWOS and Scottland setting the pace at the top and defending champions Simba Bhora quietly keeping in touch, this year’s title race has turned into a refreshing power shift, one that few saw coming.
Meanwhile, perennial contenders like Highlanders, Dynamos and Chicken Inn are drifting, fans are restless; and even match officials haven’t been spared scrutiny in a season thick with controversy, clean sheets and cagey finishes.
The log standings and the storylines look nothing like last year.
And that’s what makes 2025’s PSL season such an absorbing watch.
No side has shocked the league like debutants MWOS, who sit unbeaten at the top with 32 points. Ten clean sheets in 14 games. The joint top scorer is Billy Veremu. And the humility of a side that still insists they’re only here to avoid relegation.
“I think the boys have punched above their weight,” said coach Lloyd Mutasa. “Our goal was to avoid the chop, and we’re just 10 points from that. But who knows? Maybe the story changes.”
Their one-nil win over big-spending Scottland was more than just three points, it was a statement.
“Beating a team full of internationals and former champions showed our boys that teamwork can take us places,” Mutasa added. “We remind them every week: God is unlimited. If He says fight, who can stop us”?
Defending champions Simba Bhora have been scoring, but they are not quite untouchable. Two losses and three goalless draws in five games suggest they’re feeling the heat. A stutter, or a warning shot?
Coach Joe Lupahla admits it hasn’t been smooth sailing.
“We lost key players at the start. The rebuild has been tough, but the new boys have tried. We’re lagging behind our targets, but this team can still do more. This second half of the season will define us.”
Lupahla’s biggest battle? Consistency. He needs it more and urgently.
“We’ve lacked punch up front. We need to create more chances, score more and defend better. It’s my first season as PSL head coach, and the pressure’s real, but it’s bringing the best out of us.”
The most ambitious project in the league, Scottland overhauled their entire squad, and it’s beginning to click. With only two loss and 25 points, they’ve stitched together a team from across the PSL, and the chemistry is finally bubbling.
“We only retained two players from last season,” said coach Tonderai Ndiraya. “The challenge was turning quality individuals into a team, and that’s a process. You can’t cut corners.”
Scottland believe they deserve more, especially if the PSL rules in their favour over the abandoned game against Chicken Inn.
“If we get those points, we’ll be firmly second,” Ndiraya said. “But we have to see off the next three games. That will define our first half.”
He also raises a curious concern: teams playing with “induced performances” when facing Scottland.
“It’s like they save their best for us. But after the Ngezi game, we raised our own level and stayed there.”
With players like Khama Billiat and Walter Musona in their ranks, Scottland are not just rich; they’re dangerous.
Behind the top three, it’s a logjam of ambition and unpredictability.
Six teams — ZPC Kariba, Herentals, FC Platinum, TelOne, Manica Diamonds and Highlanders — are within a win of one another.
Each has played giant slayer at least once. And the gap from 4th to 10th? Just five points.
Even the likes of Chicken Inn, CAPS United and Dynamos, traditional powerhouses, are off the pace.
Chicken Inn’s slide is particularly grim.
Once a mainstay in title conversations, Chicken Inn are now in survival mode. Just two wins so far, a shadow of their former selves.
Coach Joey Antipas is brutally honest.
“We’re in a rebuild. Lost top players Hachiro, Amidu, Gaki, Mhlanga and replaced them with Division One boys still adjusting. We’re not in the title picture, not unless we win six straight. Right now, it’s just a struggle.”
The financial squeeze has bitten hard.
“We can’t attract quality like Scottland or Simba Bhora. If we don’t invest, we won’t compete. That’s the hard truth.”
Antipas, who’s been with the club since 2014, doesn’t sugarcoat it:
“It’s painful. The club’s lost its shine as a destination. But we’ve got to push on and find a way through.”
This year’s PSL is all edge and no cushion. In 2024, the top three had already begun to pull away. Matches were chess-like and goals were harder to come by. But 2025? It’s a bar fight. An all-out scrap.
The numbers tell the story: in 2024 after 14 rounds the top team had 29 points, while in 2025 MWOS lead with 32, but six teams are within nine points.
Compared to 2024, where matches were tight, top teams were settled, and giants roamed comfortably, 2025 feels like a footballing free-for-all.
Goals are up. Upsets are frequent.
The gap between contenders and pretenders has shrunk.
Last season, Manica Diamonds and FC Platinum had already pulled away. Now, nine teams have realistic title chances or top four ambitions.
It’s less “Big Three” and more “Battle Royale.”
No season of PSL drama is complete without officiating controversies and 2025 has had its fair share.
With four top officials, including Owen Manenda, suspended for major blunders, officiating is under the spotlight. The Harare Derby controversy and the CAPS and Highlanders fallout have only stirred the pot further. ZIFA’s Referees Committee is under fire, but the league marches on, bruised but buzzing. With three rounds left before the halfway mark, the question isn’t just who’s in form, it’s who can survive the pressure. MWOS are flying. Simba Bhora are grinding. Scottland are roaring back.
But with teams like ZPC Kariba, TelOne and Herentals circling, there’s no margin for error. This league doesn’t belong to the giants anymore. It belongs to the hungry, the bold and the ones brave enough to dream.
