NPFL MD 6 Previews: Insurance out to consolidate, Tornadoes set to consume Lobi

By Wale Mustapha

The Matchday Six of Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL will be decided this weekend across 10 centers with interesting fixtures.

The participating clubs will have time to celebrate or brood over what happened in their Matchday Five outings that were played on Wednesday.

The weekend fixtures will provide some an opportunity to correct the mistakes noticed in the last game and get to back to winning mood and may as well compound woes for others.

Whichever way it ended, the matches spread across Saturday and Sunday in both Groups promised to give much talking points and upsets as it used to be.

Group A:

In Group A, leaders Bendel Insurance will hope to continue their bright start to the season as they host Gombe United.

Coach Monday Odigie and Osenkhodie Imade won the Manager and Player of the Month awards for January following their impressive performances for with the Benin Arsenal, winning all the four opening games last month and also started February the same way.

For Gombe United, they will be coming to Benin full of confidence having recorded their first win of the season over Shooting Stars on Wednesday.

Coach Aliyu Zubairu side will be an underdog heading to the fixture, an opportunity for them to play without pressure and might see them coming out with a decent result in Benin.

The Peoples Elephants should have an easy ride against the struggling Elkanemi side who are still writhing in pain following their last game which ended in defeat to Insurance in Maiduguri.

Though. Enyimba lost their last fixture to Remo Stars with a slender margin, they are not expected to labor harder to get back to winning ways against Elkanemi.

While Shooting Stars are finding it hard to replicate their preseason form to league proper, Nasarawa United are the shadow of themselves as compared to their form in the previous seasons.

Coach Bala Nikyu has reportedly stepped aside from the team but that has not solved the crisis rocking the team as they have only a point to show from the possible 15.

The match in Ibadan will provide both teams to get back to winning ways, but a victory will mean more to Coach Gbenga Ogunbote and Shooting Stars who are desperately in dire straight to shine.

The big match of Group A this weekend is in Uyo where Akwa United will be hosting Remo Stars.

The Promise Keepers are gradually finding their rhythm to the season after their disappointing start which saw them losing at home to Insurance.

They will need all the required motivation and determination to dislodged Remo Stars who have only lost just a match from the opening five and are playing well at the moment.

Coach Daniel Ogunmodede has expressed confidence in his boys to come out well in the match with a decent result.

Finally in Group A is the North Central derby clash between Plateau United and Kwara United in Jos.

Plateau United will hope to consolidate on their morale boosting away win at Nasarawa on Wednesday and get past Kwara United but will have an herculean task against the visitors who have just recorded their first win of the season over Akwa United.

The match in Jos may proved to be banana peel for Plateau United if they allow complacency to set in while Kwara may not be able to deal with confidence their hosts have been using to execute their previous home games.

Whichever way it is, the encounter is expected to serve much interesting talking moments with performance and goals.

Group B

The fixture at the Akure Township Stadium will give Sunshine Stars a chance to quickly get back to winning ways after their unbeaten run was snapped by Lobi Stars last Wednesday.

Coach Edith Agoye led team will be taking on a wounded Bayelsa United who have just been hit by the IMC hammer from their 1-1 draw at home to Doma United.

The Restoration Boys have been ducked three points and three goals after the crisis that ensued from the match.

The outcome of their coming to Akure this weekend may either compound their woes or help them to stick their neck out that they are a team with positive spirit.

NIGER TORNADOES VS LOBI STARS

This is a fixture always filled with controversies and one will expect it is played this season without any issue.

It will be recall that Lobi Stars got a board room points off Tornadoes last season following the unrest that happened at half time where match officials were attacked.

It is expected that the strick measures IMC has taking is controlling unrest at match venues and penalties involved for the defaulters will make the match played without rancor.

Nevertheless, both teams are having a good run to the current campaign and are expected to give an interesting match in Kaduna on Sunday.

Both teams, especially Dakkada are not well placed on the log following their recent performances.

The Uyo based team will need all that required to record victory against Abia Warriors who have somehow rediscovered their mojo with their last game against Niger Tornadoes.

Any result other than a victory for Dakkada will further deepen their crisis and position on the log and may see their fans pressing the panic button on their survival in the league.

Wikki Tourists without a substantive coach following the resignation of their Technical Adviser, Kabiru Dogo will have their hands full this weekend when they host what look like a resurgence Rangers International.

The Bauchi based side have only one point to show from their opening five games and will need all their could to record decent result on Sunday.

However, Coach Abdu Maikaba will coming to a familiar ground with Rangers who looked to have being in good shape

The last match of Matchday Six in Group B will see newly promoted Doma United taking on champions Rivers United in Gombe.

On paper, Rivers United are expected to have an easy run over their hosts with quality and experience at their disposal.

However, football cannot be predicted in such manner, more so that Doma United are not doing badly in their first time in the top flight.

Coach Onigbinde Akinade led side are expected to produced an improved version of performance that earned them a point in Bayelsa on Wednesday while Rivers United will hope to make it four wins in a row.

GROUP A

Insurance FC vs Gombe United

Enyimba FC vs El-Kanemi Warriors

Shootins Stars vs Nasarawa United

Akwa United vs Remo Stars

Plateau United vs Kwara United

GROUP B

Sunshine Stars vs Bayelsa United

Niger Tornadoes vs Lobi Stars

Dakkada FC vs Abia Warriors

Wikki Tourist vs Enugu Rangers

Doma United vs Rivers United