Good morning Everyone,

The good guys at Opta Nigeria put some numbers together. regarding our performance in 2024. Numbers tell their own story and I found this post particularly quite interesting, Have a look and make sure to give them a follow on X- @OptaNGR. Enjoy

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With the blast of the whistle the players collapsed to the floor – an indication of disappointment and a below par year. It was Enyimba’s last match of 2024 and first with Stanley Eguma – our third coach of the year. Bendel Insurance left Aba with a point to cross over into the New Year after the goalless encounter. That match was Enyimba’s 40^th league match of the year and 48^th in all competitions.

Our overall playing record was: P48 W17 D17 L14 F50 A40 – meaning we won two matches fewer than in 2023 despite playing five more matches. We also scored 50 goals – two fewer than in 2023; and conceded 40 goals – three more than in 2023. Things didn’t get better.

Key: N- NPFL; F- Federations Cup; C- Confederations Cup; A- African Football League; T-Total; M- Match Played; W-Wins; D-Draw; L-Loss; G-Goals For; H-Goals Against; I- Goal Difference

‘24	M	W	D	L	G	H	I
N	40	16	13	11	46	31	15
F	3	1	1	1	2	2	0
C	5	0	3	2	2	7	-5
T	48	17	17	14	50	40	10

’23	M	W	D	L	G	H	I
N	37	19	10	8	47	27	20
F	2	0	2	0	2	2	0
C	2	0	1	1	3	4	-1
A	2	0	0	2	0	4	-4
T	43	19	13	11	52	37	15

We won just 35% of our matches, lower than the 44% in the previous year. Comparing with 2023, we lost more matches, drew more matches and won fewer matches.

Our scoring rate 1.04 goals per match is worse than in 2023 (1.21). In the league we averaged 1.15 goals per match which is the 10th best, behind the likes of Niger Tornadoes (1.20), Shooting Stars (1.17), Plateau United (1.24) and newbies Ikorodu City (1.32). We weren’t firing on all cylinders. No, we weren’t firing. Kano Pillars (1.33) had the best scoring rate in 2023.

We conceded an average of 0.78 goals per match in the NPFL. Only Rangers Int’l FC and Shooting Stars were better (0.67). Our loss rate was 0.28 loss per match. El-Kanemi Warriors and Rangers (0.21) were the only better clubs. Our win rate was 40% in the league – the 6th best. Rangers (55%), Shooting Stars (55%) and Remo Stars (54%) were the only teams with over 50% win rate in 2023.

Biggest Wins:

• Enyimba 5-0 Kano Pillars (23/24 NPFL)
• Enyimba 4-0 Gombe United (23/24 NPFL)
• Enyimba 4-1 Rivers United (23/24 NPFL)

Wins over Gombe United is normal but 5-0 against Kano Pillars is rare. They denied us a couple of NPFL titles few seasons ago. Joseph Atule got a brace in that game. You can’t also overlook victory over Rivers United. We came from behind in that game to win by 3 goals margin. Loved it.

Biggest Loss:

• Rangers 3-0 Enyimba (23/24 NPFL)
• Black Bulls 3-0 Enyimba (24/25 CAFCC)
• Akwa United 3-1 Enyimba (23/24 NPFL)

That 3-0 awarded to Rangers still hurts. Enyimba needed a win or at least a draw in Enugu. It was a tactical game and Yema almost got a draw. The recent defeat to Black Bulls in the CAF Confederation cup was a kick in the teeth for the fans. How did we lose to a Mozambiquan side? How did we concede 3 goals away. These 3 matches were the only matches we conceded 3+ goals in 2024.

The numbers also show how poor we have been on the continent. We have not won a game since the 2-0 win over Al-Ittihad in December 2021. Thereafter we have been on a winless streak of 9 matches with the 3-0 loss in Maputo still fresh. We are currently winless in our last 10 matches in all competition (8D 2L). We are 9^th on the NPFL log with 3 outstanding matches.

2025 has to be better.