‘Away Form Would Decide 2016 NPFL’

For any team to win the
Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) these days, it has to have an impressive away form.
With improved officiating, teams are now more likely to pick points away from home as home invincibility no longer exists in the league.
Gone are the days a team would bank on 100 percent record at home and one or two draws away from home to win the league.
It is virtually impossible for a team to be crowned Nigeria champions in this dispensation without winning on away soil.
In fact, the more away matches a team wins, the better their chances of winning the title. There are stats to buttress this.
It will be noted that 31 away victories were recorded last season, the highest in the Premier League in the past 10 years.
Last season, Enyimba set a new league record of five away wins to win the title.
To pick the third continental ticket, Nasarawa had to fall back on a good run of away form that saw ‘The Solid Miners’ win four away games in the second round.
This term has not been different. All the top 10 teams on the table have one thing in common – they have all won an away game. The only team outside the top 10 to have won away from home are Warri Wolves.
Save for Giwa’s expulsion which meant Rangers’ 1-0 defeat of Giwa in Jos didn’t stand, the top three teams would have had two away victories each.
Wikki (2), Rangers (1) and Rivers United (2) are leading the pack. Rangers’ bouncing back to prominence was boosted by the 2-1 defeat of Heartland recently. If the Giwa game had counted, they would have been top now. But knowing how crucial points on the road are in the race, they did the needful in Owerri.
Wikki won away to El Kanemi on the opening day and beat Ikorodu in Lagos when the second stanza resumed a couple of weeks ago.
In the same vein, Rivers United’s unlikely charge at the title is down to two road victories against Ikorodu in Week 9 and Wolves in Week 15. The romance with the top particularly started after that Week 15 success.
Pillars (1 away victory), Lobi (1), MFM (1), Enyimba (2), Sunshine (1), Abia Warriors (2) and Akwa United (1) complete the top 10 teams on the table.
The top 10 teams have amassed 68 of the 84 away points garnered by away teams this season. So, the teams in the lower rung have pulled in just 16.
On the contrary, the fortunes of the relegation-threatened teams have been hampered by poor home form.
Four of the bottom six teams, namely Ikorodu, Shooting Stars, Heartland and El Kanemi, have lost twice at home.
Nasarawa has lost once, same as 13th-placed Wolves. Only 17th-placed Plateau are yet to lose at home.
A team like Heartland has drawn the most matches away (5) which could translate to one away win and two draws but have been largely undone by the two home losses.
It could therefore be deduced that while the teams who win more away matches will fight for the trophy, the ones who lose more home matches will battle for survival.
Only nine teams are yet to lose at home this term. They are Wikki, Rivers, Enyimba, MFM, Lobi, Rangers, Ifeanyi Uba (since the opening day home loss to Giwa no longer counts), Plateau and Tornadoes.
If the away victories involving Giwa had counted (they won one away game and lost two at home), the current season would have recorded 18 away victories so far, but at 15 away wins, last year’s 31 away wins could still be surpassed.
The good news however is that teams can now aspire to win anywhere.
Nwankpa Jnr writes for African football.com

Clement Nwankpa Jr