Remo Stars Football Club (RSFC) will aim to return to winning ways when they welcome Katsina United to the Remo Stars FC Stadium on Saturday in the ongoing Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
The Sky Blue Stars suffered their third consecutive loss for the first time to Lobi Stars of Makurdi who defeated Remo Stars FC 0-1 at the Aper Aku Stadium, While Katsina United played out a 1-1 draw against Heartland at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina.
Remo Stars are fourth on the log table with 23points while Katsina United are 17th on the table, nine points behind the Sky Blue Stars.
Both sides have met four times in the NPFL, twice in 2017 and twice in 2019, Katsina had defeated Remo Stars twice, while the Changi Boys have equally suffered loss twice in the hands of the Sky Blue Stars.
In 2017, Eric Dufegha gave the Sky Blue Stars the maximum points in the 89th minute against Katsina United at the Gateway International Stadium in Sagamu.
In the reverse fixture, Katsina United defeated Remo Stars 3-0 at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina, Chinedu Unachukwu scored from the spot twice in the 23rd and 40th minutes before Frank Paka rounded it up with a beautiful strike in the 87th minute to claim all three points.
Two years after, the Sky Blue Stars defeated the Changi Boys 2-0 thanks to goals from Victor Mbaoma in the second minute and a sweet finish from Kingsley Akemini in the 76th minute.
The second leg saw Tasiu Lawal put Katsina United in front in the ninth minute before Chinedu Ajannah doubled the lead for them in the twelfth minute, Victor Chidume reduced the deficit for the Sky Blue Stars in the 25th minute of the game.
Tasiu Lawal got his brace for the Changi boys in the 32nd minute before Gbolahan Mustapha scored the second goal for the Sky Blue Stars to give them hope but Katsina United went away with the three points at the end of the day.
Katsina United have garnered seven points in their last five games and have not picked any point on the road since the inception of the league this season, the Sky Blue Stars on the other hand have four points from their last five games, they have lost three and drawn one from their last three away games.
The Sky Blue Stars should be careful of Tasiu Lawal who have scored in two out of four meetings of both sides, Sani Faisal who scored in their last game against Heartland and Niger’s Kassaly Daouda who made wonderful saves in his previous outing.
Remo Stars will hope to welcome Kayode Bankole, Dayo Ojo, Andy Okpe, Ismail Sodiq and others back into team and Agbeko Morgan is nearing his return into the team after featuring and scoring for our academy side, Beyond Limits during the week.
The Sky Blue Stars need a win to return to winning ways if they are to maintain their spot in the league, a loss won’t be acceptable from the club, while Katsina United will push to pick their first point on the road.