Former NPFL champions Rivers United blow five-match in hand advantage after latest defeat

Former NPFL champions Rivers United have squandered their games-in-hand advantage after suffering a third defeat in their rearranged fixtures.

The Pride of Rivers went down 2-0 at Abia Warriors on Wednesday, leaving them sitting in an underwhelming 12th place in the Nigeria Professional Football League table.

United had five outstanding matches to play after their league schedule was disrupted by their CAF Confederations Cup commitments earlier in the season.

However, Pride of Rivers have yet to win any of those four rearranged games so far, playing a goalless affair at Kwara United while losing to Remo Stars, Sunshine Stars and now Abia Warriors.

It marks a disastrous return for the 2021/22 NPFL champions, who held a significant games-in-hand advantage over most of the division just weeks ago.

With just one match remaining in their backlog of fixtures, United have managed to accumulate only one point from a possible 12, leaving them on 41 points from 31 games played.

Their miserable run has seen them plummet from the fringes of the title race into a season of mid-table mediocrity.

United must now regroup ahead of their final rescheduled fixture against Niger Tornadoes as they bid to avoid an underwhelming finish.