Today in the Nigerian Premier League, Heartland and Sporting Lagos will clash.
Heartland is currently languishing at the bottom of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) table, enduring a run of three consecutive losses. With just 23 points from 28 rounds, they hold the league's worst record. However, Heartland's stats are comparable to other teams fighting relegation. In their last five matches, they've secured only one victory and one draw, now trailing the 16th spot, which would ensure league survival, by 8 points. Since December, the team has managed only four victories, all at home, notably beating Abia Warriors 2-0 on March 13 and Remo Stars 3-1, marking the highest number of goals conceded by Remo this season.
In their recent games, Heartland lost 1-0 to both Baelsa and Rivers United, and 2-1 to Enugu, then claimed a 2-0 victory over Abia Warriors, drew 1-1 with Katsina United and also drew 1-1 with Sunshine Stars. Their match against Plateau ended in a 1-5 defeat.
Sporting Lagos, on the other hand, is battling for a mid-table position in the current NPFL season. Positioned 11th after 28 games, they are just four points clear of the relegation zone amidst a tightly packed lower half of the table. Sporting Lagos has recorded 9 wins, 8 draws, and 11 losses, with an even goal difference of 27:27.
Recent performances by Sporting Lagos have been mixed, with crucial wins interspersed with several losses. A notable 4-1 victory over Remo Stars has been a season highlight. However, subsequent 0-1 losses to Niger Tornadoes and Kano Pillars underscored their struggles in away games. Nonetheless, a recent 1-1 draw against league leaders Lob Stars has showcased Sporting's capability to perform against strong opponents.
In their last head-to-head on November 19, 2023, in the Nigerian Premier League, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Earlier, on July 5, 2023, in the first league match, Heartland secured a 2-1 victory over Sporting Lagos.
I'm betting on a positive handicap for Sporting, which has shown excellent performance and managed to move out of the relegation zone, unlike Heartland, which firmly occupies the last spot with three consecutive losses.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Remo Stars | 33 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 43:25 | 62 | |
2 | Rivers United | 33 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 30:23 | 55 | |
3 | Abia Warriors | 34 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 35:34 | 53 | |
4 | Ikorodu City | 33 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 51:34 | 52 | |
5 | Enugu Rangers | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 36:26 | 49 | |
6 | Bendel Insurance | 33 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 34:28 | 49 | |
7 | Enyimba | 34 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 32:30 | 49 | |
8 | Shooting Stars | 33 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 31:30 | 48 | |
9 | Kano Pillars | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | -3 | 37:40 | 47 | |
10 | Bayelsa United | 33 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 31:29 | 45 | |
11 | Katsina United | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | -2 | 28:30 | 44 | |
12 | Kwara United | 33 | 12 | 7 | 14 | -1 | 31:32 | 43 | |
13 | Niger Tornadoes | 33 | 12 | 7 | 14 | -7 | 33:40 | 43 | |
14 | Plateau United | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 34:34 | 42 | |
15 | Nasarawa United | 33 | 11 | 9 | 13 | -3 | 32:35 | 42 | |
16 | El Kanemi Warriors | 33 | 10 | 12 | 11 | -8 | 28:36 | 42 | |
17 | Heartland | 33 | 10 | 11 | 12 | -2 | 29:31 | 41 | |
18 | Akwa United | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | -4 | 30:34 | 38 | |
19 | Sunshine Stars | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | -15 | 31:46 | 38 | |
20 | Lobi Stars | 34 | 5 | 10 | 19 | -22 | 25:47 | 25 | |
21 | Beyond Limits | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
1 | Remo Stars | 17 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 28:5 | 47 | |
2 | Abia Warriors | 17 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 26:8 | 41 | |
3 | Ikorodu City | 17 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 42:14 | 41 | |
4 | Katsina United | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 26:7 | 40 | |
5 | Rivers United | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 22:8 | 39 | |
6 | Shooting Stars | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 22:5 | 38 | |
7 | Kano Pillars | 17 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 24:10 | 38 | |
8 | Plateau United | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 23:8 | 37 | |
9 | Bendel Insurance | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 21:7 | 36 | |
10 | Bayelsa United | 17 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 26:11 | 36 | |
11 | Kwara United | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 20:6 | 36 | |
12 | Enyimba | 17 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 20:9 | 35 | |
13 | Nasarawa United | 17 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 23:11 | 35 | |
14 | El Kanemi Warriors | 16 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 18:8 | 33 | |
15 | Akwa United | 17 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 22:11 | 33 | |
16 | Enugu Rangers | 17 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 26:14 | 32 | |
17 | Sunshine Stars | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 24:15 | 32 | |
18 | Heartland | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 18:10 | 30 | |
19 | Niger Tornadoes | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 19:10 | 29 | |
20 | Lobi Stars | 17 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 18:19 | 22 | |
21 | Beyond Limits | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
1 | Enugu Rangers | 17 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 10:12 | 17 | |
2 | Rivers United | 17 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8:15 | 16 | |
3 | Remo Stars | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 15:20 | 15 | |
4 | Enyimba | 17 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 12:21 | 14 | |
5 | Niger Tornadoes | 17 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 14:30 | 14 | |
6 | Bendel Insurance | 17 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 13:21 | 13 | |
7 | Abia Warriors | 17 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 9:26 | 12 | |
8 | Ikorodu City | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 9:20 | 11 | |
9 | Heartland | 17 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 11:21 | 11 | |
10 | Shooting Stars | 17 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 9:25 | 10 | |
11 | Kano Pillars | 17 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 13:30 | 9 | |
12 | Bayelsa United | 16 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 5:18 | 9 | |
13 | El Kanemi Warriors | 17 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 10:28 | 9 | |
14 | Plateau United | 17 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 14:26 | 8 | |
15 | Kwara United | 16 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 11:26 | 7 | |
16 | Nasarawa United | 16 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 9:24 | 7 | |
17 | Sunshine Stars | 16 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 7:31 | 6 | |
18 | Akwa United | 16 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 8:23 | 5 | |
19 | Katsina United | 17 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 2:23 | 4 | |
20 | Lobi Stars | 17 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 7:28 | 3 | |
21 | Beyond Limits | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
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