As the first stanza of the abridged 2022/23 Nigeria Professional Football League reaches halfway, we take a look at some of the top performers and those who have failed to hit the ground running, Abiodun Adewale writes

1. Imade, Sarki, Obasogie (Bendel Insurance)
Newcomers Bendel Insurance aren’t top of the table in Group A because other teams haven’t come to the party. They are simply there because of the involvement of their strikers, Osarenkhoe Imade and Ismael Sarki as well as their goalkeeper Amas Obasogie.

Imade and Sarki have been in the spotlight from match-day one as the striking partners have scored in the same game on four occasions to help Bendel Insurance secure points against Akwa United, Plateau United, Remo Stars and Shooting Stars. Bendel Insurance have won on three of the occasions in which both players scored, while they also drew one.

In the process, both players have ten goals between them, six of them for Imade while Sarki has four. Bendel Insurance has scored thirteen goals this season, so, both players have contributed seventy percent of the goals for the Benin Arsenal so far this season.

While Imade and Sarki are banging the goals, Obasogie has been diligent between the sticks, as he kept seven clean sheets and conceded just three goals in nine games.

While Imade won the League Bloggers January Player of the Month Award, Sarki and Amas were also nominated.

The Benin Arsenal hold a seven-point gap on top of the table with 23 points.

2. Emeka Obioma (Enyimba)
Leading the line for eight-time champions who need to rediscover themselves is no mean feat and Obioma is living up to the expectations for Enyimba.

The striker has scored seven goals already to lead the scorers chart while he has no also equalled his number from the previous season.

Unlike other contenders in the golden boot race, Obioma began to score on match-day four, bagging a brace against Kwara United and has followed it up with two other braces against El-Kanemi Warriors and Shooting Stars as well as one other goal against Gombe United to take his tally to seven.

3. Joseph Atule (Lobi Stars)
Lobi Stars forward, Joseph Atule has been a consistent provider and scorer for the Makurdi side this season.

Majorly operating from the flanks and sometimes through the middle, Atule has scored four goals and also has four assists to his name, helping Lobi stay in strong contention for a top-three finish in group B with 19 points.

Lobi has scored 12 goals in nine games, meaning that Atule has contributed to eight of them.

4.Emmanuel Ifeanyi (Plateau United)
Jos side, Plateau United are the highest scoring side so far in the league with 17 goals. While the names of scorers have been distributed, an unlikely source, Emmanuel Ifeanyi, has however scored four times for the Fidelis Ilechukwu led team.

The defender blazed the trail for Plateau in January and won the club’s player of the month award for the month while he was also nominated in the league.

5. Robert Mizo (Bayelsa United)
After seven years in the Nigeria National League (NNL), Bayelsa United returned to the NPFL with a fading status and relatively unknown players.

However, one of their players, Robert Mizo, has come to the party so far this season with four goals.

Mizo scored eight for the Restoration Boy in the NNL last season and he will be crucial to their survival this season.

6. Henry Udezuka (Abia Warriors)

The Abia Warriors teenager has been in great form in hiss full season in the top-flight league. With a goal and two assist, the sensational youngster has been pivotal for Abia Warriors