Curtains will be drawn on the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) on Sunday June 23, 2024, in ten centres across the nation, as about five clubs take final bold steps towards escaping the drop, while five other clubs jostle for the two remaining continental slots in the league, with Enugu Rangers already home and dry.
Rangers international Football Club of Enugu emerged winners of the 2023/2024 Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) with a match to play, after the Flying Antelopes defeated Bendel Insurance 2-0 in Enugu last Sunday.
The win took Rangers to an unassailable 67 points at the summit of the table after their closest rivals Remo Stars and Enyimba lost 2-1 to Sunshine Stars and Sporting Lagos, respectively.
This will be Rangers’ first league title since 2016 and their eighth NPFL title in total. The triumph also automatically guarantees them a place in the CAF Champions League next season.
Remo Stars with 62 points, Enyimba International with 60, Shooting Stars with 59 and the duo of Plateau United and Lobi Stars with 58 points each can outdo each other, depending on the results of their last matches on Sunday.
With one Champions League and one CAF Confederation Cup slots to win, both Remo Stars and Enyinma must avoid defeats in their last games. Remo Stars will be playing at home to Katsina United, in a fixture that seems to offer an advantage, but it’s tricky. Enyimba will also be playing at home against Plateau United. A point can achieve a Champions League slot for Remo Stars, only if Enyimba doesn’t score more than three goals against Plateau United.
Coming on the heels of the two clubs are Shooting Stars, Plateau United and Lobi Stars.
Lobi Stars started the season as potential champions, but lost a few matches to the finishing line, especially after losing at home to Akwa United FC.
Should Remo Stars beat Katsina United, and Enyimba defeat Plateau United, the two teams will take up the two remaining slots for continental competition next season.
The battle at the bottom will obviously be fiercer, with as much as five clubs battling against the drop.
Mathematically, Gombe United, with 25 points, and Heartland FC of Owerri with 38 points are already confirmed relegated. Doma United with 43 points also looks impossible to survive, despite the fact that they will be playing at home on Sunday against Abia Warriors. A win takes them to 46 points, but they currently have a minus 16 goal deficit, which is another potential disadvantage to their bid to escape relegation.
Sporting Lagos with 46 points, Akwa United with 46, Bayelsa United with 47 and both Niger Tornadoes and Kwara United with 48 points each must be very careful in their last matches.
While Sporting Lagos and Bayelsa United will be playing away from home, the likes of Akwa United, Niger Tornadoes and Kwara United will be playing in front of their fans.
Sporting Lagos will be playing against ambitious Shootings Stars in Ibadan, while Bayelsa United will play Bendel Insurance in Benin. Should the two teams lose, Bayelsa will have a higher margin to escape than the Lagos based side.
Akwa United, Niger Tornadoes and Kwara United have great chances of scaling through. Akwa United will battle Rivers United, Niger Tornadoes will play host to Sunshine Stars in Kaduna, while Kwara United will trade tackles against already relegated Heartland FC of Owerri.
The final Matchday of the 2023/2024 NPFL will obviously be explosive, especially for the teams at the top and those at the bottom of the table.
