Rangers Eight League Title Hunt Gets Sporting Lagos Test 

Nigeria Premier Football League table-topping side and seven-time Nigeria league champions, Rangers International F.C will this weekend be looking at displaying its potential of being crowned champions for the 8th time as they hit Lagos for a date with Sporting Lagos F.C in a match day 34 fixture of the 2023/2024 NPFL season.

The Mobolaji Johnson Arena (Onikan Stadium, Lagos) would be the venue for the encounter that will see the coach Abdullahi Biffo-led side fight the fight of their lives to contain a side in the form of Rangers International F.C tomorrow, with kickoff fixed for 4:00 pm. It will be live on the league’s broadcast right holder, StarTimes, on Beta Sports, channel 244.

Though the coach Fidelis Ilechukwu tutored side is wary of the fact that their host, under a new gaffer, Biffo, will be a difficult team to contend with, his team is motivated to come up with a positive result to ensure that the chasing pack is given more hurdles to overcome.

With 19 points separating both sides and 12 teams sitting between both teams on the 20-team log, Ilechukwu, whose wards went on a scoring spree in their last league encounter against Bayelsa United where they scored three goals to maintain their top spot as the best-attacking team, would be counting on the likes of Okorie Chiedozie, Kazeem Ogunleye, Isaac Saviour, and Ejike Ugochukwu to get the needed result against the Lagos side that would be counting on Christian Nwoke to keep out the forays of the ‘Flying Antelopes”.

Ilechukwu, who cut his coaching teeth in Lagos with many grassroots teams as well as M.F.M F.C that he led from the lower league to the top league and won a spot to represent the country at the continental scene, is positive going into this fixture, stressing, “We expect a good game from Sporting Lagos but we are very positive of the outcome. We are not by any means underating our opponent as no team is a push-over. We respect Sporting especially under their new coach, Biffo, whom I respect very much but, we shall approach the match as a cup final believing that our efforts on the pitch will give us the positive result we expect at the end of the encounter.”

In the reverse fixture at the Awka City Stadium, it ended 2-0 in favour of the ‘Flying Antelopes’.

Rangers’ leading goal scorer, Godwin Obaje, who grabbed a brace in his last match is full of optimism going into this fixture as he said, “I thank God for all He has been doing for our team this season and I believe that we have all it takes to get a good result against Sporting Lagos. It will be a tough encounter as no team is small in the league, but the unity in the team will see us through in this fixture.”