Teams for Super League almost finalized

Kathmandu, Sept. 26:The top five teams to progress to the Super League of the ANFA Women’s League 2024 have been almost finalized after the end of round eight on Wednesday. 

All the 10 participating teams still have their final round matches to play. The final round starts from September 26 and will conclude on September 28.

After 45 matches of the first phase are played between 10 teams in a single round-robin format, the Top 5 teams, on a point basis, will advance to the second phase: the Super League.

The fifth and final match of Round 8 was marked by the 3-0 win of the Nepal Police Club (NPC) over Karnali Province. 

Nirmala Upadhyaya scored the opener in the 43rd minute for NPC. The next two goals came in the 54th and 82nd minutes through Manisha Raut and Samjhana Lawati respectively.

After the win, NPC stands firmly in the third position with 18 points from five wins and three draws. The top two teams are the defending champions Armed Police Force (APF) Club (22 points) and the Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) (19 points). 

It was certain for the three departmental clubs to take the top three spots by the end of the first phase. 

Thus, the fight was always between seven other teams – Koshi, Karnali, Sudurpashchim, Sankata FC, Bagmati Youth Club, Chandrapur Municipality and Waling Municipality – for the remaining two spots.

Standings

After the loss against NPC, Karnali stands in the ninth position in the points table. Karnali has one win, one draw and six losses in eight matches; thus, only four points.

The bottom-placed team has been Sudurpashchim. The westernmost province has not earned a single point from eight matches; moreover, the team has conceded 65 goals in eight games: an average of at least eight goals per match.

Chandrapur, the team to play most draws (5), is in eighth position. Chandrapur won one match and lost two and has eight points. The team above them is Sankata FC. Sankata also has eight points (2W, 2D, 4L) but is above Chandrapur on goal difference. 

The bottom four teams cannot challenge the contemporary Top 5 teams even if they win their respective matches in Round 9. The only team with a chance is the sixth-positioned Bagmati Youth Club (BYC).

BYC has 10 points in eight matches accumulated through three wins and a draw. They are only a point behind fifth-positioned Koshi. 

Yet, BYC has to tackle the highest quality team in the League in the final round; against league leader and three time defending champions APF Club on September 27. 

APF has not lost a single match in the last three seasons and is unbeaten in the current one as well.

On the other hand, Koshi, on September 26, will meet last-placed Sudurpashchim. 

With a win against Sudur, Koshi might even overcome fourth-positioned Waling. Waling (12 points) has won four matches and lost four and their opponent in the final round is Chandrapur; they will open Round 9 on Thursday.

Therefore, the top five teams advancing to the Super League, which will be played in a double round-robin format, are APF Club, TAC, NPC, Waling and Koshi.

Nevertheless, if Koshi and Waling are defeated, or only either one loses, or BYC grab a miraculous win over APF, it would change the members in the Top 4 and 5 positions.

The top four teams from the Super League will then proceed to the Qualifiers, Eliminator, and Finals. 

As per the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), the second phase will begin after the conclusion of the 10th National Games.