The NPFL After 12 rounds: Rangers On Top, Home Teams Unbeatable, Enyimba In Trouble
Twelve rounds into the 2026/27 Nigeria Professional Football League, the table is starting to tell a story. Here is the season so far, in the numbers that matter.
Table of Contents
24 points: Rangers set the pace
Enugu Rangers lead the league on 24 points from 11 games – seven wins, three draws and one defeat – after Sunday’s 1-0 home win over Kwara United. They are the only side in the division with seven victories, and they have a game in hand on most of the chasing pack.
Nasarawa United are second on 20 points after beating Plateau United 3-1 at the weekend, with Barau FC, Kano Pillars and Bendel Insurance locked together on 19. Rivers United sit sixth on 18 with a game in hand, and with the tightest defence in the league, they are the team nobody above them will want to see climbing.
Five points cover second to tenth
The gap from second place (20) to tenth (16) is just five points after 12 rounds. Eight clubs are within one good weekend of the top three, which is why the next two months, taking in the end of the first round, will shape the title race more than anything that has happened so far.
Home teams win 57% of the time
This is the number that defines the NPFL. Of the 116 matches completed so far this season, home teams have won 66 and lost only 11. That is a 57% home-win rate and a 9% away-win rate; the remaining 39 games (34%) were draws.
For context, in Europe’s top five leagues home teams typically win 40-45% of matches. In the NPFL, an away point is still a prize, and an away win is still an event.
Barau and Kano Pillars: the draw specialists
Barau FC and Kano Pillars have identical records – four wins, seven draws, one defeat, 19 points. Seven draws from 12 is more than half their games, and it is the main reason both sit third and fourth instead of challenging Rangers at the top. Rivers United have six draws of their own.
Rivers United: five goals conceded in 11 games
Rivers United have conceded only five goals all season, the best defensive record in the league by some distance. Rangers have let in 10 and the three teams on 19 points have conceded 10, 12 and 17. The flip side for Rivers is an attack that has scored 15; turn two or three of those six draws into wins and they would be top.
2.3 goals per game, and a handful of thrillers
The season average is 2.34 goals per match – 271 goals in 116 games. Bendel Insurance and Plateau United lead the scoring charts with 19 goals each, with Bendel’s 4-2 home win over Kun Khalifat the joint-highest-scoring match of the campaign alongside Rangers’ 4-2 win at Kun Khalifat, Enyimba’s 4-2 over Shooting Stars and Katsina United’s 4-2 against Enyimba.
Enyimba in 18th: a famous name in the relegation zone
The two-time African champions are 18th with 11 points from 12 games: three wins, two draws and seven defeats. Only Abia Warriors (11 points, worse goal difference) and Inter Lagos (six points, one win, 17 conceded) sit below them. Enyimba have lost more games than any team except Inter Lagos, and their goal difference of -4 is the fourth-worst in the division.
Inter Lagos have scored six goals in 11 games – the lowest total in the league – and are already six points adrift of 17th place.
What to watch after the international break
The league pauses for Nigeria’s AFCON qualifiers against Tanzania on 13 and 17 November and returns with the final rounds of the first half of the season. Three questions:
- Can anyone turn Rangers’ game in hand into pressure? The leaders’ only defeat so far was a 2-0 loss away at Ikorodu City.
- Will Barau or Kano Pillars convert their draws? Both have lost just once; both are four or five points off the top.
- Can Enyimba climb out before the halfway mark? Seven defeats in 12 is a run the club’s history says should not last.
You can follow every NPFL fixture, live score, table and head-to-head record on goal888’s Nigeria Professional Football League page, updated through every matchday.
All figures from the goal888 database as of 9 November 2026, after round 12 of the 2026/27 NPFL.
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