Nigerian football followers are excited that the spread of the coronavirus, which has halted many global sporting events, has not reached pandemic levels in Africa which is a go for Nigeria Professional Football League to herald Match Day Twenty-Four with the full bouquet of ten matches on offer this Sunday.
There are only six teams left in the NPFL who are unbeaten at home and one of them is FC Ifeanyi Ubah (FCIU) who have piled up 9 wins and 2 draws in 11 matches in front of home fans; only Akwa United and Lobi Stars have prevented FCIU from winning at home this campaign.
That record will be on the line when they welcome a rejuvenated Dakkada side who are on a bit of a roll at the moment.
Dakkada produced reminiscences of their early season sparks in their 1-0 home win over Heartland last weekend and rendered their visitors to zero shot-on-target with Goalkeeper Vincent Edafe recording his 8th clean slate yet of the season.
Dakkada’s Femi Ajayi, who is the division’s second top assist provider with 6, has been directly involved in 11 of Dakkada’s 23 NPFL goals so far; he and his colleagues, Moses Effiong and Spencer Bassey will be hoping to arrive Nnewi in their scoring boots as FCIU are a selfish side having only conceded a paltry tally of just two goals in eleven home matches – only Warri Wolves and Sunshine Stars have scored a goal each in Nnewi this campaign.
FCIU have had their 23 goals so far spread across ten different scorers which makes it difficult for the opposition to man-mark any particular player but they must find goals from elsewhere following the absence of top scorer, Uche Sebastine, who has four goals.
FCIU midfielder Ikenna Cooper and forward, Ekene Awazie, would feel they have a point to prove to their visitors; the duo were on pre-season trial at Dakkada before the commencement of this campaign but ended up not signing off on the dotted lines.
Dakkada’s Head Coach has continued his policy of squad rotation which makes his start list all the more unpredictable nowadays. The gaffer made three changes to his first eleven last weekend with the trio of Eso Archibong, Femi Ajayi and Spencer Bassey taking the places of Francis Odinaka, Isaac George and Alalibo Somiari.
Isaac George scored the solitary goal as Dakkada triumphed 1-0 in the reverse fixture on November 21, 2019.
Kick-off in Nnewi is at four o’clock in the afternoon while live text updates and video highlights are available on Dakkada’s social media handles.
FCIU Top Scorers
Uche Sebastine 4
Samuel Kalu 3
Jimoh Gbadamosi 3 (All Away Penalties)
Ikenna Cooper 3
Chigozie Chilekwu 3
Ekene Awazie 2
Christian Nnaji 2
Tochukwu Anueyiagu 1
Uche Onuoha 1
Alli Abdullahi 1
DAKKADA Top Scorers
Femi Ajayi 5
Moses Effiong 5
Isaac George 4
Osimaga Duke 2
Spencer Bassey 2
Eso Archibong 2
Utibe Arit 2
Form Guide
FCIU
Rivers United 1-0 FCIU
FCIU 1-0 MFM FC
DAKKADA FC
Dakkada 1-0 Heartland
Kano Pillars 2-0 Dakkada
Next Fixtures
FCIU
Lobi Stars Vs FCIU
FCIU Vs Jigawa GS
DAKKADA FC
Dakkada Vs Rangers Int’l
Warri Wolves Vs Dakkada
Date: Sunday, March 15, 2020.
Venue: Ifeanyi Ubah Stadium, Nnewi.
Kick-Off: 4:00pm
Edidiong STEPHEN
March 14, 2020. Nnewi.
