Nigeria NPFL Predictions & Betting tips
Find our free predictions and key information on the 2025-26 season of the Nigeria Premier Football League. Our experts will provide previews on the biggest matches from Nigeria's top flight throughout the season. Be sure to check back in regularly for the latest NPFL information!
Nigeria Premier Football League Presentation and Prediction
Founded in 1972, the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has a rich history that has produced a number of the country’s most famous names. Kanu, Jay Jay Okocha, John Obi Mikel, Vincent Enyeama and many more got their start in the NPFL, making it a great league to spot rising talents.
Despite having produced a number of football’s most recognizable players, the NPFL is a league which faces financial constraints and infrastructural issues. This was evidenced by the various postponements to the start of the 2023-24 season and it showed itself again last year with the full match schedule being delayed right up until the season kicked off. Currently, only the first round of fixtures are known, which the highlight of the round being defending champions Remo Stars taking on last season's runners-up Rivers United.
Rest assured, as soon as the full season schedule is confirmed we’ll be sure to update this page. You can also expect free previews of the top matches in the league from our experts throughout the season. Continue reading below for a breakdown of the Nigeria Premier Football League as well as some predictions and key statistics.
Bet on the Nigeria Premier Football League
Nigeria Premier Football League title prediction: Which team will win the 2025-26 NPFL?
It was a historic season for Remo Stars, who went on to claim their first ever NPFL league title! After back-to-back runners-up finishes in 2023 and 2024, it was beginning to look like it may never come to pass for the Ikenne based club.
However, a 71-point haul over the course of 38 matchdays saw Remo finish seven points clear of second-place Rivers United in what ultimately turned out to be a comfortable league victory. The club, which was founded in 2004, now has a strong foundation to build off of after a number of years of consistently high league finishes under their belt, capped off last season with a championship.
Heading into the 2025-26 NPFL season, the defending champions have to be considered the early favourites to retain their crown. They still have manager Daniel Ogunmodede at the helm, who masterminded last year's league title. Remo Stars were also able to retain the majority of their squad, including key players such as Sikiru Alimi (the team's top goalscorer last season), Junior Nduka, Olamilekan Adedayo and Sodiq Ismail. With tactical consistency and plenty of team cohesion, Remo fans should be feeling confident of their team's chances this year. Our 2025-26 NPFL prediction: Remo Stars champions!
Nigeria Premier League Top Scorer Prediction: Who Will Score the Most Goals?
One of the pivotal players in Remo Stars’ championship-winning season last year was the performance of Sikiru Alimi. The striker led the way for the Sky Blue Stars and was looking like a strong candidate to win the 2024-25 golden boot. Ultimately, it was Anas Yusuf who would pip him to the crown, as he finished the campaign with 18 strikes compared to Alimi's 15.
With Remo looking like set to mount another title challenge, Alimi will once again be expected to play a starring role. He’s at the peak of his powers at 29 years old and should be near the top of the scoring charts for the 2025-26 season. Our 2025-26 NPFL top goalscorer prediction: Remo Stars’ Sikiru Alimi!
Beginner’s Guide to How the Nigeria Premier League Works
The NPFL is the highest league in Nigerian football. The 20 best teams in the country battle it out using a traditional home and away league structure, meaning that they will play every team in the division twice throughout the year. There are 38 fixtures that make up the complete campaign for each team, producing a total of 380 matches throughout the season. Currently, only the first round of fixtures have been released, with the season set to kick off on 22 August 2025.
- The team that finishes top of the table after 38 matches is crowned champion and qualifies for the CAF Champions League.
- The second-place finishing team also qualifies for the CAF Champions League.
- The team that finishes third qualifies for the CAF Confederations Cup.
- The bottom four finishing teams are relegated to the Nigeria National League.
The upcoming 55th season of the Nigeria Premier Football League promises to be an action-packed affair. Perfect for bettors and fans alike!
Bet on the Nigeria Premier Football League
How to Make Good Predictions on Nigeria Premier Football League Matches?
In order to make informed and accurate predictions on the NPFL, there are a few strategies that you may want to incorporate into your betting process.
- Use underlying statistics to better analyze team performance
- Match motivation and the team’s fixture list
- Take into account player injuries and suspensions
- Consider the form of the teams
- Compare odds across bookmakers
Below you’ll learn about the betting techniques used by our experts and exactly how to implement them for use in Nigeria’s top flight.
1. Use underlying statistics to better analyze team performance
Teams in the Nigerian Premier League often favor a defense-first, pragmatic style of play. This is displayed in the extremely low average goals total which is at times even a full goal lower than some of the major European leagues. It’s important to be aware of the statistics at play when analyzing matches in this league. You may see enticing odds for an over 2.5 bet but it won't make much sense in betting it if the two teams involved are the two best defenses in the league.
There are a number of useful stats that will help you to gauge which way a match might go. The NPFL is a league that sees home sides enjoy a distinct advantage, one that is much more pronounced than other leagues. Take note of a team’s average shots total, goal conversion rate, opponent penalty box touches and clean sheet percentage. Note how these statistics differ when the team is home vs away. You’ll find that there might be teams that perform better away from home than other teams, or teams that see drastically improved numbers on home soil. Use this information in your bets and you’re bound to see an improvement to your bottom line!
2. Match motivation and the team’s fixture list
Matches at the end of the season vs beginning of the season. Some teams may be out of contention without much left to play for in the final few fixtures of the league campaign. Meanwhile, other teams could be battling against relegation, for the league title or for continental competition qualification. These factors can have a significant impact on the match as a highly-motivated team is more likely to come up with a strong performance rather than a team that is already looking forward to the offseason.
A team’s fixture list also must be factored into the equation when you are analyzing matches. Is the team on short rest? Do they have a big CAF Champions League match coming up in a few days time? Are they coming off a heated rivalry match in their last appearance? These types of situational spots often have an effect on team performance. A manager might opt to rotate his squad and rest key players in anticipation for a big CAF Champions League match. Thus, going against that team could provide a profitable betting opportunity with a weakened starting 11.
3. Account for player injuries and suspensions
Staying up-to-date on the player squads is a huge part of what makes a successful football bettor. You never want to find yourself in a position where you analyze a match and place a bet only to find out that your team is missing its star player. No matter the league, football is a sport that can have matches decided by the individual brilliance of a team’s key player.
A good way to always stay on top of the latest team news is by following the team’s social media platforms. Teams will often post starting lineups, match reviews and player / injury news on platforms such as X / Twitter. The best part about this is that it is free to follow so be sure to do your due diligence.
4. Consider the form of the teams
Of course, considering the form of the teams in question is always going to play a major part in the analysis of a bet. Football, and sports in general, often sees players and teams go through peaks and valleys. Teams can very often get in a rhythm wherein winning breeds confidence, which in turn leads to a higher standard of performance and thus more successful results on the pitch.
Conversely, teams can also go through cold streaks where nothing seems to go right. They may get a few unlucky bounces of the ball and thus suffer a few losses in a row. Losing can often have a negative impact on a player or team’s confidence which in turn could lead to a below-average quality of performance. Be sure to pay attention to how teams are performing at different points throughout the season.
5. Compare odds across bookmakers
Last but certainly not least, you will want to make it a priority to compare odds across different bookmakers. It’s such a simple exercise but one that can arguably have the greatest effect on your overall profitability come the end of the season. For example: Say you are backing Remo at home to beat Enyimba. You find a price of 1.75 for the hosts to win the match on one bookmaker. Before locking the bet in, you compare the same prediction across multiple bookmakers and find another site carrying the bet at odds of 1.85.
Although it may seem small at first glance, consistently finding those types of price differences will pay dividends at the end of the year. If you made the same bet 100 times with a stake of €100, the difference between 1.75 odds (€7500 profit) and odds of 1.85 (€8500 profit) is a massive €1000! Extrapolate that same type of thinking across every bet that you make for an entire season and you can begin to see why shopping for the best price is such a profitable strategy.
Bet on the Nigeria Premier Football League
What not to do for your Nigeria Premier League Predictions
Just as there are some useful betting strategies and techniques to implement, there are also some habits you will want to avoid:
- Chasing losses (e.g. Betting triple your normal amount to ‘make up for’ two previous losses).
- Blindly betting on your favorite team
- Regularly betting on heavily favored teams (odds of 1.25 or lower)
- Not practicing proper bankroll management (betting random or more than a fixed amount on each bet)
- Betting strictly on a team’s name and reputation and not accounting for recent performance and form.
- Disregarding the betting odds and not understanding the implied probability behind them.
- Not comparing bookmakers to find the best possible odds on the market for your bet.
- Not taking into account underlying statistics
If you can eliminate these bad practices from your betting process, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a more profitable punter!
Nigeria Premier League Prediction: Statistics you need to know
In this section we’ll take a look at some of the key statistics that we’ve compiled that you can apply to your future NPFL predictions. All of these statistics are from the previously completed 2024-25 season:
- Home wins: 64%
- Draws: 25%
- Away wins: 11%
- Average goals: 2.06 goals per game
- +0.5 goals: 90%
- -0.5 goals: 10%
- +1.5 goals: 61%
- -1.5 goals: 39%
- +2.5 goals: 34%
- -2.5 goals: 64%
- +3.5 goals: 12%
- -3.5 goals: 88%
- +4.5 goals: 6%
- -4.5 goals: 94%
- Goal timing distribution: 76-90' and 31-45' (both 21%)
- First half goals: 48%
- Second half goals: 52%
- Average home team goals: 1.46
- Average away team goals: 0.60
- “Both teams to score: yes”: 39% of matches
- Average shots per match: 20.64 shots
- Wins by 2 goals or more (handicap): 26.6% of matches
- Correct score 0-0: 10% of matches
- Correct score 1-1: 11.8% of matches
- Most frequent score: 1-0 home win (24.5% of games)
As we discussed early and as you can see from the statistics above, the Nigeria Premier Football League is one that generally sees lower scoring games. Therefore, backing under 2.5 goals or “Both teams to score: No” should always be considerations when making your predictions.
The NPFL has historically been a league that sees away teams have very little success. With just 11% of matches last season resulting in an away victory, you'll want to steer clear of backing the visitors in the majority of cases. A parlay bet of a home win combined with under 3.5 or 2.5 goals could be a solid combination.
Lastly, if you are looking to take the home team to win, consider betting the 1-0 exact score, which came through in almost one out of every four matches last season! This type of bet will provide a very nice boost to the odds and give you a substantially better payout. Of course, nothing is guaranteed, especially with this type of bet. The above statistics should give you a good general idea of how matches in the NPFL play out. Be sure to keep this in mind when placing your next Nigerian Premier Football League bets!
In Short: How to Make the Right Nigeria Premier Football League Predictions?
When making your predictions for matches in the 2025-26 NPFL be sure to follow the advice laid out in this article. Reference back to the important statistics and key betting strategies in order to get an edge over the bookmakers!
If you find that you’re short on time or would simply like to see a different perspective, head over to our football predictions page to see what our experts think about the matches. Remember, we provide free betting tips and insight onto games throughout the season at SportyTrader!
Bet on the Nigeria Premier Football League
Our Nigeria Premier League (NPFL) Predictions of the moment
There are no previews at the moment for this competition
Best odds to bet on NPFL
Odds are not yet available for this competition.
The images featuring this article are licensed from the IMAGO website.
