Heading into Matchday 26, three teams sat on 41 points apiece at the top of the NPFL. By Sunday evening, the picture had shifted – and for anyone building accumulators on https://1xbet.ng/en/mobile, the landscape entering the second half of February looks dramatically different.
Ikorodu City Silence the Elephant Park
Ikorodu City went to Aba and got the better of Enyimba 1-0, Joseph Arumala finishing on 29 minutes. It was their first victory over the People’s Elephant.
Enyimba are without fans after a stadium ban, removing the atmosphere that made Aba so daunting. Off the field, it’s worse: player allowances that have gone unpaid; a government investigation into a missing CAF prize payment; mounting anger with chairman Kanu Nwankwo. Twenty-seven goals conceded in 26 matches and a spot in the bottom half – for a two-time continental champion, this is uncharted ground.
Ikorodu keep writing chapters with no precedent. Promoted in 2024, fourth in their debut season, now leading the table in their second. Arumala has nine goals this term, and the club added striker Chinedu Akuvuo from Finnish side Pallo-Iirot during the window. The pre-match market favoured a draw based on head-to-head patterns. That pattern is broken now.
Rangers Emerge from the Shadows
Enugu Rangers silently made their way up the title race with a calm 2-0 victory at home against Wikki Tourists – first-half goals from Wisdom Ebirim and Veteran Godfin Obaje taking them to 43 points, just one behind Ikorodu City. Their Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium fortress at home makes them bankable on any weekend slate, and the outright title price ought to be getting shorter.
Rivers United: Five Bullets Loaded
Rivers United sat out Matchday 26 but their presence hovered over every result. Still on 41 points, three behind the top two, yet carrying five rescheduled fixtures after their CAF Champions League campaign ended with a 3-0 group-stage exit to RS Berkane. The catch-up calendar:
- Feb 18 – Kwara United (away)
- Feb 25 – Barau FC (home)
- Mar 4 – El-Kanemi Warriors (home)
- Mar 12 – Shooting Stars (away)
- Mar 19 – Niger Tornadoes (away)
Three weeks, five matches, a potential fifteen-point swing. The outright title market is frozen until Finidi George’s men show their hand. Wait for the Kwara and Barau results before backing anyone.
Nasarawa’s Road Trip Goes Wrong
Nasarawa United all was on par with Icokes going into the weekend. They came away from Katsina empty-handed – a 1-0 loss that snapped their own six-game winning run at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium. Runs like these end, and this one ended at the worst possible time.
Remo Stars: Trophy Lift to Survival Fight
Reigning champions Remo Stars currently lie 19th, with 27 points from 26 matches – nine months after lifting the title. A 1-1 draw with Abia Warriors on Sunday – one win in their last nine – did nothing to ease the crisis. “Home” games played across five different cities: Ikenne, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Benin, and now Akure. Assistant coach Sulaiman Folarin insists the club won’t go down. The numbers disagree. Relegation outright on Remo is no longer a curiosity – it is a live market.
Betting Notes
Shooting Stars’ 4-1 demolition of Warri Wolves was the weekend’s outlier – the over 1.5 goals line keeps clearing in matches involving bottom-half sides, and anyone who grabbed a 1xBet code before the weekend would have found value there. Wikki’s Uche Collins, the league’s first player to double figures after a Matchday 25 hat-trick, was kept quiet in Enugu; Rangers’ home defence is that good. Bendel Insurance, two from two under new coach Kennedy Boboye before the weekend, were held scoreless by Bayelsa United – the bounce may need another week.
The next three weeks will redraw the NPFL map. Rivers United start their catch-up run tomorrow. Ikorodu City have daylight for the first time. Rangers are surging. This is the stretch where old patterns are least likely to hold.
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