By Olawale Alabi on August 5, 2021

The 2020/2021 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season ends on Thursday with many high points to look forward to, even without the competition’s title at stake.

The season began on Dec. 27, and it has trudged on since in spite of issues of the absence of title sponsors as well as the accumulation of match indemnities and other entitlements to match officials.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that all these will now come to an end (at least for this season) with Match Day 38 fixtures at 10 venues on Thursday.

Akwa United Football Club of Uyo have won the title since Match Day 37 on Sunday, after whipping MFM FC of Lagos 5-2 to move to 71 points for an unassailable nine-point lead.

But much is still at stake, with qualification tickets for the 2021/2022 CAF Champions League and 2021/2022 CAF Confederation Cup on the line, as well as relegation to the lower league.

The position of second-placed Nasarawa United of Lafia is under threat and they may miss the chance to join Akwa United in qualifying for the 2021/2022 CAF Champions League.

A win will however take them far away from the chasing pack of third-placed Kano Pillars, fourth-placed Rivers United, fifth-placed Enyimba International and sixth-placed Kwara United.

But each of all the five clubs have a chance, provided they win and their nearest rivals lose, with one CAF Champions League ticket and one Confederation Cup ticket at stake.

With all five of them playing away, the situation is unpredictable and only those who can grab away wins will pick the tickets to play on the continent.

FC IfeanyiUbah and Adamawa United are already relegated, but the other two to join them can be any two of Warri Wolves, Sunshine Stars, Wikki Tourists and Jigawa Golden Stars.

Warri Wolves need more than a win to escape the drop, while Sunshine Stars and Wikki Tourists need to just win to scale through.

But that will be if Jigawa Golden Stars do not draw or win at MFM FC.

NAN reports that two clubs are to join the duo of Adamawa United and FC IfeanyiUbah in dropping to the Nigeria National League (NNL) for the 2021/2022 season.

On the other hand, the second-placed team will join winners Akwa United in playing in the 2021/2022 CAF Champions League, while the third-placed team will play in the 2021/2022 CAF Confederation Cup.

CURRENT STANDINGS

Pos         TEAM                             P     W    D     L     GD     Pts
1.    Akwa United                        37   19    14     4    +30       71

2.   Nasarawa United                37    20     5    12   +19       65

3.  Kano Pillars                          37    19      7     11    +10     64

4.  Rivers Utd                            37   18      9      10   +13     63

5.  Enyimba International      37   17      12      8    +6      63

6.  Kwara United                     37    18      8      11   +17     62

7.  Rangers International      37    17      8      12   +16     59

8.  Lobi Stars                          37     16      7      14     +3     55

9.  Plateau United                 37     14      9      14    +12     51

10. Dakkada FC                    37     15      5      17      –8     50

11. Katsina United              37     14      7     16       –4     49

12. MFM FC                     37     12     12      13      –3    48

13. Heartland FC            37      12     9      16      – 8      45

14. Abia Warriors          37      11      11     15     –4       44

15. Jigawa G/Stars           37       11      10     16     –15    43

16. Wikki Tourists            37      11       9      17     –10     42

17. Sunshine Stars              37      10     12     15     –12     42

18.  Warri Wolves              37       11       8      18     –14    41

19. FC IfeanyiUbah             37       8      12      17     –18    36

20. Adamawa United         37      5      10      22    –33    25

MATCH DAY 38 FIXTURES

Abia Warriors vs Nasarawa United

Dakkada FC vs Enyimba International

Rangers International vs Plateau United

Heartland FC vs Kano Pillars

FC IfeanyiUbah vs Warri Wolves

Kwara United vs Katsina United

Lobi Stars vs Akwa United

MFM FC vs Jigawa Golden Stars

Sunshine Stars vs Rivers United

Wikki Tourists vs Adamawa United

RESULTS FROM MATCH DAY 37

Akwa United 5-2 MFM FC

Plateau United 2-0 Dakkada FC

Katsina United 1-0 Abia Warriors

Warri Wolves 1-0 Heartland FC

Rivers United 3-1 Lobi Stars

Enyimba International 1-1 Sunshine Stars

Nasarawa United 3-0 Rangers International

Adamawa United 0-2 Kwara United

Kano Pillars 1-0 Wikki Tourists

Jigawa Golden Stars 3-0 FC IfeanyiUbah
(NAN)

•PHOTO: NPFL action

Source Daily sports

Posted August 5, 2021

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