Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin will be locking horns with Enyimba FC of Aba in the rescheduled Match Day One fixture of the Nigeria Premier Football League ( NPFL) on Wednesday, in Aba.
The match day one fixture was earlier postponed due to Insurance FC’s intercontinental engagement in Morocco with RS Berkane in the 2023/24 CAF Confederation Cup second-round preliminary game.
The Benin Arsenals from a 2-2 home draw with Kwara Utd arrived in the Eastern commercial City of Aba on Sunday night, beating the Monday sit-at-home trap to settle down after Saturday’s hard-fought draw.
Insurance has recorded three straight draws from their last three fixtures, two in the North – against Doma Utd (0-0) and Niger Tornadoes (0-0), before the Match Day Nine 2-2 draw with Kwara Utd in Benin.
With the return of Insurance’s number one goalkeeper, Amas Obasogie from the Super Eagles, Insurance FC no doubt hungry for victory, are better prepared for the People’s Elephants head-to-head battle.
Recall that Amas Obasogie was on a national call to duty in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe last week.
The clashes between the two football giants have always been difficult and fierce. Insurance and Enyimba both met thrice last season, with the Benin Arsenals having better results. Insurance defeated the People’s Elephants 1-0 in Benin in the first leg, pulled a 1-1 draw in Aba in the revised fixture, and later got another 0-0 draw result at the Super Six in Lagos.
The NPFL defending champions have not found Insurance FC easy to beat at home or away recently. In 2019 when Insurance gained promotion to the topflight division after eleven years in the second division, both sides met twice in the abridged league and the two encounters ended in barren draws.
According to Bendel Insurance defense strongman Benjamin Tanimu, the Monday Odigie-led Insurance FC will be filing out against Enyimba FC on Wednesday with all their Arsenals, hoping to get good results.
On his part, Odigie noted that though Insurance have big respect for the former two-time CAF champions and league defending champions notwithstanding, his boys are ready for the big battle, adding that Insurance’s first away win is possible in Aba.
The Benin Arsenals currently occupy 6th position on the table with 13 points, and a win in Aba could take Bendel Insurance FC to the second position.
