The Nigeria Premier Football League Match Day 5 games will swing into action this Sunday with an expected explosive Lagos derby between Ikorodu United FC and high flying Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM).
Ikorodu United will host MFM at the Onikan Stadium on Sunday as the newly Lagos-based clubs struggle for supremacy in Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
The Manager of Ikorodu, Edema Benson, has expressed confidence of his side will beat MFM in spite of their 0-1 loss to Enyimba in the mid-week game in Port Harcourt.
“We are not going into the league as an inferior side,” Benson said.
“We will justify our place in the premier league as worthy representatives of the good people of Lagos State and Ikorodu in particular”.
On his part, Fidelis Ilechukwu, coach of MFM, said that he would capitalise on the 2-1 victory against Sunshine Stars at home in the Match Day 4 encounter.
“We hope to continue in the way we have started, the performance against a strong opposition like Sunshine Stars must be sustained in subsequent games.
“The game against Ikorodu FC will be tougher but we remain focused on improving our players performances consistently,’’ Ilechukwu said.
Ikorodu United had played three games in the league so far and recorded four points, which placed them on the 12th position on the log.
They drew 1-1 with Abia Warriors at home in their season’s opener, defeated Lobi Stars 1-0 in Lagos and lost to 0-1 to Enyimba in Port Harcourt, while MFM have won two games at home and lost 0-3 to 3SC in Ibadan.
MFM, 2nd on the log, beat Nasarawa United 2-1 away in their first match of the season; the team also defeated Rivers United 2-0 in Lagos but lost 0-3 to 3SC.
MFM bounced back to their winning ways by defeating Sunshine Stars of Akure 2-1 at the Agege Stadium in the Match Day 4 on Wednesday.
The team also defeated Lobi Stars 1-0 in Lagos but lost 0-1 against Enyimba in Aba.
Meanwhile, Dotun Coker, Chairman, Technical Committee, Lagos State Football Association, said the association was expecting a fluid and exciting encounter between the Lagos-based sides.
“The Association expects good organisation and a full capacity house and it is sure that we are going to have an entertaining and exciting match.
“In terms of security, I can assure you that we have mapped out strategies for security during and after the match.
“We also have an ambulance and qualified medical team on ground, so we expect the game to be very exciting for the fans and families,’’ Coker said.
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