Kano Pillars being led by Baba Ganaru, a former coach of Nassarawa United will be hoping to reignite their chances of contending for the league trophy having been outsiders for a major part of the season. Kano Pillars are 10th on the league table, separated by 9points from the league leaders, Rangers.

Last season saw them being unable to pick a ticket to represent Nigeria at the continental stage and as such they will be looking to improve on their league standings before the league season comes to an end. There is so much at stake for Kabiru Dogo and his men as they play host to Pillars today.

They have wobbled on many occasions this season. Nassarawa United are ninth on the table- just one spot above Kano Pillars, with 43 points compared to Kano Pillar's 42 points. A successful season for the Lafia outfit will be measured by their ability to grab a continental spot.

Playing at the Aper Aku stadium, the traditional ground of Lobi Stars of Makurdi, may not give the Solid Miners a comfortable home-advantage, however, at this stage of the season a victory on every turf is seemingly always the target. 

For the coach of Nassarawa United, a former student of Baba Ganaru while he was in charge of Nassarawa United, getting all maximum 3 points against the visitors is the sole target.

"We are ready for the matchup, I do not want to call the clash a revenge but the 3 points is quite key and we will not compromise our negotiate the points" Ganaru said.

In the last five matches, the Solid Miners have won two, drawn one and lost two. The Pyramid City side in comparison have not fared better, with just 2 victories and three defeats in their last 5 games. However, they could squeeze a positive result in Thursday’s matchup against the Solid Miners, given, that their fiery attack rises to the occasion.

Kano Pillars have scored the highest number of goals this season with 41 goals. Moreover they are responsible for producing the match with the highest goals scored, and that was when they crushed Shooting Stars 6-0 in Kano, during the first stanza of the league.

The absence of star winger and striker, Prince Aggrey who was signed this week by Norwegian outfit, Stabaek, might reduce their options with respect to the quality of attack upfront. However, with the presence of Razak Adegbite and Gambo Mohammed, they still pose a dangerous threat.

For Nassarawa Utd, they will be counting on Tayo Fabiyi and Abdulrahman Bashir especially to fire them to a sweet victory over their northern neighbours. One can only imagine the predictable hysteria this game will give to the fans as it has its own share of lure.

The last three encounters between both teams has been in favour of Nassarawa United who have won twice and lost once. In this scenario, Nassarawa's away win over the Kano team in the 2014/2015 season which ended their previous enviable record of 12 years unbeaten run was one of the major talks of the season.

As such, this game will be one to watch out for as Nassarawa's next opponent will be against third-placed Rivers United, while Kano Pillars next fixture will be a face-off with Plateau United.

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