For Mamelodi Sundowns it's a case of deja vu as another points deduction saga looks set to throw a spanner in the works in their title chase.

The club has an ongoing hearing with the PSL for fielding defender Wayne Arendse despite the player not being in the 18-man match-day squad against Bidvest Wits in October.

Last season, the Ajax Cape Town and Tendai Ndoro saga nearly affected the race as Orlando Pirates could have won the title if they were awarded the three points from their loss to Ajax.

Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane said: "Last year we had to make sure that we win the league with at least three points-plus, now this."

He continued: "I am a layman in terms of rules. All I know is that we asked the match commissioner [against Wits] if we can play him and he agreed. We also asked Wits if it's fine and they did not protest."

Downs could lose the one point they gained in that 1-1 draw with Wits. They are now second on the table with 34 points from 17 games.

The Brazilians got back to winning ways in midweek after a comfortable 3-0 win over Black Leopards at Loftus Versfeld.

Ironically, Arendse made a return to the starting line-up in that game and delivered a solid performance at the back after missing the previous four league games.

The former Bafana Bafana boss admits Downs "have been a little under pressure for the past 10 days".

"I also had a DC [disciplinary committee hearing] just before the AmaZulu game for something I said when Percy Tau was still with us," Mosimane said.