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The 2023 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) regular season ended with its usual pomp, leaving us with the top three teams from each group to battle it out for the Super Six Playoff to determine the outright champions and who the country's representative is on the continent. 

The abridged version of the league often serves up an unusual amount of excitement, and the 2023 season lived up to that billing.  

Not since 2019 has the NPFL seen an abridged league, with Enyimba securing a dramatic win. This season, six teams will be hoping to emulate the People’s Elephant from 2019 by winning the playoff rounds, including Enyimba themselves.   

Unfortunately for the two bottom teams in each group, there will be no playoff to determine who stays in the NPFL as all four teams were relegated to the second division, the Nigeria National League (NNL) in a bid to reduce the number of teams next season from   

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**Six teams battle to become NPFL Champions ** 
After the dust settled on the 2023 NPFL season, six clubs, three from each group, including; Bendel Insurance, Remo Stars, Sunshine Stars, Lobi Stars, Rivers United, and Enyimba, qualified for the championship round or the abridged league season.  

**Group A** 
In Group A, Bendel Insurance topped the group with an 18-game unbeaten streak that saw them end the league season with 34 points.  

The Benin Arsenal gathered eight wins and 10 draws, scoring 22 goals in the process. 

Remo Stars were the runners-up in the group with 33 points, as the Ikenne-based club secured nine wins, six draws, and three losses in 18 games while scoring 21 times. 

Enyimba made it to the top three with 32 points in 18 matches. The People’s Elephant, the most successful side in NPFL history, pipped Akwa United to third place in Group A on goal difference after recording nine wins, five draws, and four losses. 

**Group B** 
In Group B, the NPFL’s defending champions, Rivers United continued with their impressive showing in recent years as they topped the group with 34 points. 

The Pride of Rivers recorded nine wins, seven draws, and two losses to be on the verge of defending their title in the Super Six tournament.  

Lobi Stars finished second in Group B; they ended as the Benue club earned nine wins, three draws, and six losses to end with 30 points.  

Sunshine Stars completed the Super Six slots after finishing third in Group B, as the Akure Gunners ended the season with 27 points earned from seven wins, six draws, and five losses in 18 matches. 
 

**The four relegated NPFL teams**  
Four clubs, two from each group, said goodbye to the top flight of Nigerian football, as they heeded the call of the NNL at the end of the 2023 season.  

**In Group A**, the El Kanemi Warriors were relegated with a meagre 10 points from 18 games and finished bottom of the group as a result.  

The Borno Army won only two matches, recorded four draws, and suffered a whopping 12 losses out of the 18 fixtures to earn themselves a return to the NNL for the first time since 2012.  

They endured a woeful season, earning the fewest points (10), scoring the fewest goals (10), and conceding the most goals (28) of any team in both groups of the NPFL.  

Nasarawa United joined El Kanemi Warriors in relegation from Group A, as the Lafia-based club finished ninth on the log with 14 points, five points below Gombe United, who finished eighth. 

The Solid Miners recorded three victories, five draws, and 10 losses, scoring 23 goals in the process, but it was not enough to save them from dropping to the NNL.  

This is only the second time in their history that the Lafia-based club has been demoted from the NPFL, with the most recent instance coming in 2009/2010.  

**In Group B**, Wikki Tourists were relegated despite their 2-0 victory over Lobi Stars on the last day of the season, after results elsewhere did not go their way.  

Wikki Tourists fought valiantly to secure victory over Lobi Stars, who had gone 18 games in a row without losing at home in the NPFL (including 12 straight victories), but it was not enough to earn them a place in next season’s NPFL thanks to Enugu Rangers picking up a point against Rivers United to send Wikki Tourists into the relegation zone.  

The demotion ends Wikki Tourists’ nine-year involvement in the NPFL after being promoted from the lower-tier NNL in the 2014 season.  

Dakkada FC completes the four teams that were relegated from the 2023 abridged NPFL season, as the Uyo-based club ended the season bottom of Group B with 13 points from 18 matches, following three victories, four draws, and 11 losses. 

Promoted in 2019 from the NNL, Dakkada have spent the last four years in the NPFL but will now have to do it all again starting next season.  

**A star is born in the NPFL regular season** 
The regular season heralded the birth of a new star in the race for the top scorer’s award, as Enyimba’s Chukwuemeka Obioma outshone everyone thanks to his 14 goals.  

Obioma finished as the highest goalscorer with fourteen strikes, five goals ahead of his nearest challenger, Robert Mizo of Lobi Stars, who scored nine goals. 

Bendel Insurance’s Osarenkhoe Imade was third in the standings with eight goals, while five other players; Abba Umar of Lobi Stars, Sarki Ismael of Bendel Insurance, Bello Lukman of Abia Warriors, Usman Musa of Doma United, and Cyril Olisema of Awka United, all finished with six goals each. 

**Who will win the Super Six?** 
The Super Six Playoff begins in Lagos on Saturday, June 3rd, as the six teams look to end the season with something special.  

The winner and the second-place teams will compete in the CAF Champions League next season, while the third-place team will play in the CAF Confederation Cup. 

Enyimba have won both previous editions of the NPFL Super Six to decide a league champion after abridged seasons in 2006 and 2019. 

The People’s Elephant became the most successful team in the country after winning the 2019 NPFL title through the Super Six playoffs and will be looking to repeat the feat in 2023 after just managing to qualify for the mini tournament by finishing third in Group A.   

History could favour the team in Lagos as the Finidi George-led side aim to continue their total dominance of the Super Six Playoffs by winning all three editions. 

Rivers United, the NPFL's defending champions, are another club that stands a strong chance of lifting the trophy.  

The Stanley Egunma boys will be leveraging their impressive performance on the continent to become the champions of the country for the second time in a row, after reaching the quarterfinals of the 2023 CAF Champions League.  

Remo Stars, Bendel Insurance, and Lobi Stars are dark horses who could pull off a surprise in the Super Six tournament, with their regular season form suggesting that they could upset the usual suspects, especially Bendel Insurance, who finished top of Group A without losing a single game.   

Sunshine Stars’ last-minute heroics to the end of the season leave them as rank outsiders for the Super Six title, but in football, you can never say never.  

On paper, Enyimba have the best chance of lifting the trophy given their history in the competition, but they will face strong resistance from Rivers United and Remo Stars, who are also keen on claiming continental spots.  

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NPFL 2023: The Good, the Bad, and the Clubs Set for Super Six