Winless from the two rounds of fixtures in the NPFL championship round, the two sides at the bottom of the table, Sunshine Stars and Lobi Stars, will go one-on-one on Sunday at 13:00 GMT.
Sunshine Stars have drawn their last two matches in the NPFL following the opening defeat at the onset of the championship round. They are still searching for their first win. They will look to rectify this record when they clash with Lobi on Sunday.
After drawing the first match of the championship round, Lobi Stars lost the second one before drawing the third. They will be looking for their maiden win in the championship round when they face Sunshine Stars on Sunday.
Key Highlights
Sunshine Stars Need to Fix Their Offensive Approach
After losing their opening match, in a 0-1 scoreline against Rivers United, Sunshine have bounced back with two back-to-back draws. However, these results have seen them lose some ground with the pacesetters at the top of the table early on.
Sunshine came from behind to draw against Bendel in matchday 2, where they recovered from conceding in the 7th minute to equalizing in the 62nd minute via Ekerette Anthony Udom.
In the clash against Remo Stars on Wednesday, Sunshine Stars conceded the opening goal again, in the 12th minute, before equalizing in the 46th minute via a lucky Emmanuel strike.
Bet hereThe challenge for Sunshine in the last two matches has been conceding early in games and playing catchup. This predicament has seen their opponents get the early goal and prioritize a defensive shape, making it hard for Sunshine to penetrate.
Sunshine Stars will need to be offensively sound and defensively alert at the beginning of the match. Getting the first goal will be crucial for Sunshine to get their maiden win of the championship round.
Lobi Stars Need to Start Scoring Goals
Lobi opened the championship round with a draw against Bendel (0-0) before losing to Enyimba 0-1 in the second and then getting a draw in their most recent match against Lobi Stars (0-0).
In the opening fixtures, Lobi Stars’ attackers huffed and puffed, firing blanks in all three matches. Therein lies Lobi Stars’ main challenge heading into the clash against Sunshine on Sunday.
Lobi Stars’ manager needs to change it around (personnel, shape, or tactics) to give Lobi better abilities to create and take chances.
At the current rate, Lobi Stars will not make any impact in the championship round. Although the two clean sheets out of three matches are impressive, they need to start firing in the final third.
Injury Report
Sunshine Stars
The Sunshine Stars’ camp has not reported any injury or suspension worries ahead of the clash against Lobi Stars on Sunday.
Lobi Stars
As Lobi Stars look for their first goal and first win in the championship round, they will have the full complement of the matchday squad from which to choose the team to face Sunshine Stars at the weekend.
Possible Lineups
Sunshine Stars
J. Opubo; S. Olulayo, K. A. Adeyemi, L. M. Oladipupo, O. Abe; A. Wande, S. Olasupo, V. Temitope; L. Emmanuel, A. Alaba; F. Maichibi
Lobi Stars
E. Daniel; E. Oyetoro, E. T. Agbaji, J. Orafu, S. Kwambe; C. Madu, A. Abdullahi, O. E. Chukwuka; S. Mubarak, B. Ovoke; U. Abba
Prediction
Sunshine Stars will look to play on the front foot and dominate the game; they will boss possession and look to create chances.
Lobi Stars will look to be reactive; they will defend narrow and deep and will use counter attacks and set pieces to trouble the Sunshine defense.
The two sides will share the spoils with a draw on the offing.
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