NPFL MD 10 Previews: Enyimba, Bendel Insurance in battle of supremacy in Aba

By Wale Mustapha

There’s no better way to restart the 2022/2023 Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL abridged season than some mouthwatering fixtures including the encounter between Group A leaders, Insurance FC and Enyimba FC.

The Benin Arsenal took the bookmakers by surprise with their incredible performance in the first round of the league season going all the way without defeat in nine matches.

After four weeks of break and the opportunities for teams to boost their ranks with fresh legs, it is expected that the final leg of the season will come with more intensity.

Insurance will have their hands full in Aba on Sunday when they take on the Peoples’ Elephants and the outcome of that match will define how Coach Monday Odigie will fare till season end.

Insurance accrued 23 points out of a possible 27 in the first round and are seven points clear of second-placed Enyimba. The gap may be widened or reduced after the Sunday game.

The fixture will also bring about talks about the race for top scorers’ gong between Insurance’s Imade Osarenkhoe and Chukwuemeka Obioma of Enyimba. Obioma’s seven goals put him one ahead of Osarenkhoe whose goal decided the contest when both sides clashed a month ago

Akwa United occupying third spot in Group A have a decent chance to keep up pace with the frontrunners when they host five-time champions, Shooting Stars of Ibadan.

Coach Deji Ayeni will be hoping his team gel more for the final leg of the season while Gbenga Ogunbote will be relying on experienced fresh legs he acquired in the mid season transfer window.

In other games, Plateau United, who are fourth, welcome Gombe United, two spots below them.

Kwara United will be banking on their end of first round form and the new approach of Coach Kabir Dogo to kick start their second round moments against Elkanemi Warriors in their newly adopted home ground, Akure.

Remo Stars who started the season on a brighter note fell to fifth at the end of first round but have a chance to bounce back to reckoning when they take on relegation worried Nasarawa United in Ikenne.

In Group B, the picture at the top could change as the two leading sides face tricky opponents this weekend.

Leaders Lobi Stars, who are on 19 points, travel to fifth-placed Doma United of Gombe, while defending champions Rivers United, a point behind the Group leaders, welcome fourth-placed Abia Warriors.

Seven-time champions Enugu Rangers will be hoping to revive their campaign when they host relegation-threatened Bayelsa United. Four defeats and three draws in the opening half of the season means the Flying Antelopes are in seventh place on nine points while Bayelsa are a point and a place below.

Group A:

Enyimba FC vs Bendel Insurance

Remo Stars vs Nasarawa United

 Kwara United vs Elkanemi Warriors

Plateau United vs Gombe United

 Akwa United vs Shooting stars

Group B:

Rivers United vs Abia Warriors

Rangers Int’l vs Bayelsa United

Doma United vs Lobi stars

Wikki Tourists vs Sunshine stars

Dakkada FC vs Niger Tornadoes