Nigerian Premier Football League Predictions

Shooting Stars SC host Bendel Insurance at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan, this weekend in one of the standout fixtures of the 2026/27 Nigeria Premier Football League season, and the mood around the Oluyole Warriors could hardly be better. Salisu Yusuf's side sit at the top end of the table after Matchday 11, and their most recent outing was a statement 4-1 dismantling of Abia Warriors in Ibadan, a result that carried Shooting Stars to the summit and underlined the progress made since the new manager arrived just weeks before the campaign kicked off. That emphatic 4-1 victory — sparked by Damilola Akinola's early opener and capped by Issa Yusuf restoring the three-goal cushion late on — was the perfect response to the frustrating 2-2 draw at Ikorodu City in the South-West derby seven days earlier, where Taofeek Otaniyi and Desmond Ojietefian had put the visitors two goals up inside 36 minutes before Donald Obiajulu's second-half brace salvaged a point for the Oga Boys. Before that, Shooting had returned to winning ways on Matchday 9 with a 3-1 home defeat of newly promoted Ranchers Bees, ending a five-match winless league run in which the Ibadan club had been beaten 4-2 at Enyimba and 2-0 at Kun Khalifat while drawing 0-0 with both Kano Pillars and Nasarawa United. The early-season inconsistency is worth remembering when assessing this fixture: Shooting Stars are a side built on Salisu Yusuf's high-pressing, aggressive style, but one that has at times struggled to convert territorial dominance into goals, as shown by back-to-back goalless stalemates in September. What has changed since mid-October is ruthlessness — nine goals scored across the wins over Ranchers Bees and Abia Warriors — and with home advantage at a ground where they opened the season by beating Inter Lagos 2-1, the hosts will fancy their chances of extending their unbeaten run against the Benin Arsenal.

Bendel Insurance arrive in Ibadan as one of the season's most intriguingly polarised teams: formidable at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, vulnerable on the road. Monday Odigie's men have won every home league match so far this campaign — Warri Wolves (2-1), Kun Khalifat (4-2), Ikorodu City (2-1) and Niger Tornadoes (2-1, on 8 November) — but their away record tells a very different story, with defeats at Nasarawa United, Ranchers Bees, Sporting Lagos, Abia Warriors and, most recently, champions Rangers International. The latest of those road losses came on 4 November in a rescheduled fixture at the Awka City Stadium, where a second-half strike decided a tight contest and Rangers edged it 1-0 to climb to the top of the table at Bendel's expense. Sandwiched around that defeat are two hugely encouraging results: the 2-1 away victory at Kwara United on Matchday 11, which showed the Benin Arsenal can grind out results on their travels, and the headline 2-1 home win over league leaders Rivers United on 25 October, when a 90th-minute goal ended the Port Harcourt side's nine-match unbeaten start to the season — a result that ranks among the most impressive of the entire NPFL campaign so far and demonstrates that this Bendel side can hurt anyone when the defensive structure holds. That said, the heavy 3-0 reverse at Abia Warriors on Matchday 6 remains a warning sign for away trips, and Odigie's pragmatic, defensively disciplined philosophy has historically produced tight, low-scoring contests — exactly the kind of game in which a single moment can decide the outcome. With the club sitting comfortably in the top half and pushing towards the continental conversation, Bendel will view a trip to Ibadan as a test of their top-six credentials, but they must solve their away-day scoring problems to take anything from it.