Lobi Stars and Dakkada FC face each other for the first time in the top flight of Nigerian league football, Sunday, at the Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi, in one of ten matches of Match Day Sixteen of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Lobi, whose run of three successive wins came to an end at Rivers United, Wednesday, will be seeking an immediate return to winning ways when they host a Dakkada side who suffered their heaviest defeat yet of the campaign at the hands of Nasarawa United in midweek.
Thursday’s loss was more of an aberration to an otherwise epochal season for the debutantes who have raised eyebrows with some stellar performances especially on their travels where they’ve racked up one win and five draws.
The Chairman of Dakkada FC, Coach Aniedi Dickson has enjoined his charges to stand up to be counted against Lobi Stars and has promised them special incentives should they get a result on Sunday. He said, “the defeat to Nasarawa United is far behind us and we are now focused on our next match which is away to Lobi Stars”.
Coach Caleb Esu who made one change to the starting eleven which defeated Rivers United with striker Ojukwu Ifegwu coming in for Eso Archibong said after Thursday’s loss to Nasarawa United, “We know what went wrong and we are going to fix it ahead of our trip to Makurdi”.
Lobi Stars who sit atop the standings are NPFL’s only side to have won all their home matches without conceding a goal. That record will be on the line when they come up against the division’s second best away team – Dakkada FC; only second to Lobi Stars on the away form table.
This will be a special match for Lobi Stars’ Chukwude Nwaodu as he gets the chance to face his former employers. The midfielder, who scored the solitary goal in Lobi’s 1-0 home win over MFM FC on Match Day Fourteen, spent two fruitful years at Akwa Starlets (now Dakkada FC) between 2015 and 2017 before joining Heartland en route to teaming up with Stars.
Against Rivers United, Coach Gbenga Ogunbote, who is celebrating his birthday today, made three changes to the starting eleven which defeated MFM with former Abia Warriors striker Sunday Adetunji, Omotayo Adebogun and Tamara Ezekiel taking the places of Abdulkareem Mumumi, Samad Kadiri and erstwhile captain Raphael Ayagwa, who joined America’s USL Championship side FC Tulsa, last week.
24 goals were scored on Match Day Fifteen while four away wins were recorded to take the overall tally to 21 away wins and 285 goals in 142 NPFL matches so far. It would make for an interesting wait to see what this weekend has in store especially now that top-notched entertainment is more of an expectation rather than a hope.
Kick-Off in Makurdi is at four o’clock in the afternoon while live text updates are available on Dakkada’s social media handles.
Form Guide
LOBI STARS
Rivers United 2-1 Lobi Stars
Lobi Stars 1-0 MFM FC
DAKKADA FC
Dakkada 0-3 Nasarawa United
Dakkada 2-1 Rivers United
Next Fixtures
LOBI STARS
Lobi Stars Vs Nasarawa United
Jigawa GS Vs Lobi Stars
DAKKADA FC
Dakkada Vs Jigawa GS
Wikki Tourists Vs Dakkada
Date: Sunday, January 19, 2020
Venue: Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi.
Kick-Off: 4:00pm
Edidiong Stephen
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. Makurdi.
