AFCON 2025
Enyimba are four games into the 2026/27 NPFL season, and already the warning signs are impossible to ignore.
The nine-time Nigerian champions have lost all four of their opening matches, leaving them without a single point at the bottom of the table. Their latest setback came on Sunday, when Inter Lagos secured a 1-0 victory at the Enyimba Stadium.
For a club that only avoided relegation on the final day of last season, the start raises legitimate questions about whether Enyimba can survive another difficult campaign.
Here are three reasons why.
1. A disastrous start is putting them under immediate pressure
Four matches, four defeats. Enyimba opened the campaign with a 2-1 defeat away to Niger Tornadoes, followed by a 2-0 loss to Doma United before suffering another 1-0 defeat at home to Inter Lagos.
The problem is not simply the results; it is the absence of any positive momentum.
After four matches, Enyimba have zero points, while their goal difference stands at -5. They are currently the only team in the league yet to register a point.
That leaves little room for another prolonged poor run.
Last season already showed how dangerous a slow decline can become. Enyimba finished 11th with 49 points but were only certain of their top-flight status on the final day after beating El-Kanemi Warriors 3-0.
This season, they have started from an even more difficult position.
2. Enyimba are struggling to score goals
Perhaps the biggest concern is at the attacking end.
Enyimba have scored only one goal in their first four league matches. Williams Wonah is currently their only scorer in the competition.
That means the team is averaging just 0.25 goals per game.
In a league where margins are often extremely small, failing to consistently find the net puts enormous pressure on the defence. Even a relatively solid defensive performance can count for little when the team cannot turn possession or chances into goals.
The pattern is already visible: Enyimba have conceded five goals in four games, but they have failed to score in three of those matches.
Until the attack improves, every game becomes a situation where one defensive mistake could decide the entire result.
3. The club entered the season with unresolved squad and stability concerns
The problems did not begin in August. Enyimba changed coaches repeatedly during the previous two seasons, with Emmanuel Deutsch becoming the club’s fourth coach in two years when he was appointed in January 2026.
Deutsch eventually kept the club in the NPFL, but the summer presented another challenge.
A pre-season assessment by The Guardian noted Enyimba’s relatively quiet transfer window and delayed preparations, while former captain Kalu Nweke departed for Shooting Stars. The report also highlighted that the club made fewer major additions than in previous rebuilding periods.
That matters because Enyimba were not coming off a strong campaign. They had just survived relegation on the final day.
Instead of entering the new season with a completely settled squad and a long-established technical structure, the club began another campaign still trying to rebuild its identity.
And the early results suggest that rebuilding process has not yet translated onto the pitch.
