NPFL: What Rangers’ game in hand is worth in a six-point table

Enugu Rangers go into Matchday 13 top of the NPFL on 24 points with a game fewer played than every club chasing them, and the league's decision to move one Sunday fixture to Tuesday adds another date to an already uneven schedule.

Rangers have 24 points from 11 matches. Bendel Insurance are second on 21 from 12, Nasarawa United third on 20, and Barau FC and Kano Pillars both have 19. Rivers United, sixth on 18, have also played 11.

The gap at the top is therefore smaller than it looks, and larger than it looks, depending on which column you read first.

The fixture that moved

Plateau United's home game with Kun Khalifat, originally set for Sunday 15 November, will now be played on Tuesday 17 November. The league said the change was needed because an All Progressives Congress presidential campaign rally is scheduled for the New Jos Stadium on the original date, according to a report by Leadership published on 11 November.

The rest of Matchday 13 goes ahead across the weekend, starting with Shooting Stars against Bendel Insurance in Ibadan on Friday evening.

Plateau United, coached by Gbenga Ogunbote, sit eighth on 16 points and lost 3-1 at Nasarawa United in their last league game. Kun Khalifat, 15th on 13 points, drew 1-1 with Kano Pillars in theirs.

Analysis: Why a game in hand is only worth what you do with it

A match in hand is potential, not points. If Rangers win both their outstanding fixtures they would be nine clear of Bendel Insurance's current total, a gap that would reshape the season. If they draw them, the chasing pack closes to within a single win.

What makes this season's version unusual is how many clubs are involved. Five sides sit within five points of the summit, and the sixth, Rivers United, also has a game to make up, with the best defensive record in the division behind them.

The scheduling matters too. Plateau United now face a Tuesday fixture while most of their rivals have a normal week, and clubs carrying rearranged dates tend to pay for them later in the season rather than now.

Rangers themselves travel to Niger Tornadoes on Sunday, one of three leading clubs on the road this weekend, as our Matchday 13 guide set out. In a league where away wins have been this rare, that is where the table's shape will really be decided.