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Tag: NPFL FOCUS

  • NPFL FOCUS: Remo Stars tipped against Sunshine Stars  as Amuneke, Finidi  face-off in Owerri

    NPFL FOCUS: Remo Stars tipped against Sunshine Stars  as Amuneke, Finidi  face-off in Owerri

    It is fast becoming a two-horse race in the Nigeria Premier Football League title race with a straightforward fight between Remo Stars and Shooting Stars following the recent slide of Rivers United.

    As the season enters Matchday 22, TUNDE LIADI  looks at how the pendulum would swing this weekend…

    Remo Stars will hope to extend their lead at the top of the table  to nine points even before nearest rivals, Shooting Stars and Rivers United take to the pitch tomorrow  with an away tie against Sunshine Stars today as the Nigeria Premier Football League Matchday 22 fixtures get underway this weekend.

    Remo Stars are dictating the pace of the season with 42 points from 21 games and they will face Sunshine Stars who though are technically at home in the tie have been forced to play the game in Ikenne, the home ground of Remo Stars.

    The Owena Whales are 15th  on the log with 24 points and are in dire need of a win to move further away from the drop zone but the Sky Blue Stars have found it difficult to lose on their home ground though they are the visitors this term.

    Tomorrow, there will be four games on offer with Heartland facing Rivers United in Owerri. The Naze Millionaires are still buoyed from their 1-1 draw in Aba to Enyimba and they will hope to secure their second win in seven days when they trade tackles with the Pride of Rivers who are led by former Super Eagles’ handler, Finidi George.

    Kano Pillars will hope to vent the frustration of their 4-1 loss to Ikorodu City in Lagos on Bayelsa United whom they will host at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano. Sai Masu Gida are 10th  on the log with 28 points though they are with a game at hand and they need the win to appease their fans for their calamitous defeat in Lagos.

    It will be another North Central derby in Lafia with Nasarawa United up against Niger Tornadoes. The Solid Miners got a draw in Minna in the first leg and are desperate for a home victory as they are languishing at the bottom of the table with 19 points. The Ikon Allah Boys pipped Kwara United 2-1 to move to the seventh spot and they will relish another positive points that will take them closer to the top five.

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    In Umuahia, Abia Warriors will slug it out with Akwa United in a repeat of the first stanza which ended 1-1. The Umuchineke crooners let slip a 2-0 lead to lose agonisingly 3-2 to Remo Stars in Ikenne. They were unable to overturn a 2-0 first leg defeat in Umuahia while Akwa United with a blunt attack were held to a 1-1 draw by Lobi Stars. The draw meant they are still at the wrong end of the table in 19th  spot with 20 points.

    In Jos, Shooting Stars’ quest to protect their six game winning streak would be put under serious test when they face Plateau United tomorrow. The Oluyole Warriors have won all their last six games including four home games and two away ties. They have not conceded any goal in those games too.

    With Plateau United in 16th spot with 23 points, they will be under immense pressure to secure another win after they lost the maximum points to Katsina United in the fifth minute of the stoppage time from the penalty spot. Shooting Stars cannot afford to lose the tie to keep their league title aspirations intact. They are currently second with 36 points with a game at hand away to Kwara United.

    Four remaining games of the Matchday 22 fixtures will come up on Monday. Lobi Stars will host Enyimba in Bauchi. They got a draw in Uyo against Akwa United to move to the 18th  spot with 21 points and will need all points to move further up.

    Enyimba are in Bauchi to halt their recent slide. They lost two consecutive games to Kano Pillars and Kwara United and were fortunate to get a shared spoils at home to Heartland FC who were wasteful in Aba.

    Rangers will hope to be third time lucky when they host Ikorodu City on Monday with the determination to end their winless home streak which would extend to three games if they fail to beat the Oga Boys on Monday. The Fidelis Ilechukwu boys have lost three of their last five games with two of those defeats coming in Enugu.

    The reigning league champs are sixth with 31 points and the big plus for them is that a win against Ikorodu City will guarantee them  a place in the top five at least. Will it come easy for the Flying Antelopes with the emphatic manner the Oga Boys dismantled Kano Pillars midweek?

    In Benin City, Bendel Insurance will strive to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games when they host Katsina United at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium. They braved the odds to hold Rivers United to a 2-2 draw in Port Harcourt and brimming in that confidence, the Chanji Boys may find it difficult to survive the heat.

    While, Kwara United are at home to fourth placed El Kanemi Warriors in Ilorin. The Harmony Boys were unlucky to lose in Minna to Niger Tornadoes but the Borno Army did just enough to overcome Rangers International FC 2-1 in Maiduguri.

    Kwara United led by Tunde Sanni will be eager to win the game to move to the top half of the table.

  • NPFL FOCUS: Warlords Enyimba, Rangers lock horns in dicey Oriental derby

    NPFL FOCUS: Warlords Enyimba, Rangers lock horns in dicey Oriental derby

    The headline fixture for the weekend games is the battle between the last two winners of the Nigeria Premier Football League while there are also interesting ties in Owerri, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and  Maiduguri, writes TUNDE LIADI.

    For the second consecutive week,  it is another Oriental derby that headlines this  weekend’s fixtures as Nigeria Premier Football League Matchday 15 are played across 10 cities nationwide.

    It was Heartland versus Enugu Rangers that took centrespread  last weekend with the countdown to the encounter the talk of Owerri metropolis and its environs.

    The game later ended goalless despite the tie being action packed and thrilling from start to the finish.

    This term, it is the turn of the winners of the Nigeria Premier Football League for the past two seasons. Enyimba, 2013 champions will lock horns with reigning champions, Rangers International FC at the Enyimba International Stadium, Aba on Tuesday.

     The clash should have held this weekend but it was shifted to next week because Enyimba were involved in CAF Confederation Cup fixture on Wednesday in Egypt and are expected back in Nigeria by the weekend.

    The last fixture between both teams ended inconclusive on the pitch after Enyimba abandoned the tie when a controversial penalty kick was awarded to Rangers International FC in the 97th  minute of the encounter. The Flying Antelopes later won the fixture in the boardroom with three points and goals. No one expects the scene of last season witnessed in Enugu again in Aba this term.

    Another fixture that will generate enthusiasm is the encounter between Rivers United and Kano Pillars in Port Harcourt. It brings the second placed team against eighth-placed Sai Masu Gida at the Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium.

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    The Pride of Rivers were held to a 1-1 draw by Sunshine Stars in Ijebu Ode midweek and may return to the top if they beat Pillars with first spot Remo Stars facing Niger Tornadoes in Minna. Only goals differences separate the first and second spots who both have 26 points.

    The fixture will also bring up former head coach of the Super Eagles, Finidi George against his former coaching colleague in the senior national team, Usman Abd’Allah,  and it promises to be another thriller in Port Harcourt.

    In Benin, Insurance will slug it out with Plateau United hoping for another home win after their narrow loss to Nasarawa United in Lafia on Wednesday.

     The Edo Arsenals are last on the log with 12 points and they need a win against stubborn Plateau United to gradually steer clear of the drop zone. The Peace Boys are desirous of a positive outcome too.

    Heartland will return to Owerri to face Nasarawa United knowing that they are under compulsion to claim the three points and shut any drop zone discussion with only two points separating 12th  placed Naze Millionaires from the relegation zone. The Solid Miners are not equally save as they are presently in the drop zone in 18th spot with 15 points.

    The Owerri side should have picked at least a point in Ilorin but poor marksmanship aided by poor officiating marred Heartland’s desire to pick a positive result and having returned home, the boys are aware that only a home win would placate their expectant fans.

    Lobi Stars will square up with Kwara United in another North Central derby while Katsina United will try to dim Sunshine Stars light at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Katsina.

    Shooting Stars were beaten in successive South West derby against Ikorodu City and Remo Stars. They will battle Abia Warriors hoping to win another home game while El Kanemi Warriors will face Bayelsa United in Maiduguri barely a few days after the loss to Ikorodu City in Lagos. Will they have shaken off the fatigue following a long road trip back to their base?

    In the last fixture of the weekend, in-form Ikorodu City will try to add to the woes of Akwa United at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos on Sunday.

    The Oga Boys pinned El Kanemi Warriors 2-0 on Wednesday to move to the fifth spot with 21 points in their debut season in the topflight and another unlikely home win this weekend will plunge the Promise Keepers deeper into the relegation zone  while Ikorodu City may soar to as high as the third spot if other results favour them.