Exclusive: AFC Leopards Will Inflict More Misery on Rivals Gor Mahia - Says Noah Abich

Former international Noah Abich has tipped AFC Leopards to beat rivals and champions Gor Mahia in their first Mashemeji derby of the current 2024/25 FKF Premier League season.

The two Kenyan giants will face off at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday, November 24, just a week after K’Ogalo parted ways with their head coach Leonardo Martins Neiva owing to a string of poors results in the league.

Gor Mahia have dominated the derby in recent years with Ingwe mostly playing catch-up. As per the records, the last six matches have seen Ingwe manage only one win against K’Ogalo.

Last season, it was K'Ogalo who took the bragging rights by sealing a double over their nemesis. In the first-round meeting, Gor Mahia secured a 2-0 win before sealing a 1-0 victory in the second-round meeting on their way to winning a record 21st league title.

In 2023, the two sides battled to a 0-0 draw in the first-round meeting but Ingwe took the honours in the second-round fixture after beating Gor Mahia 2-1, and ended their 10-match winless run against the champions.

During the 2021 campaign, Gor Mahia emerged 1-0 winners in the first meeting before the two sides shared the spoils in the reverse fixture. In the 2019 campaign, Gor Mahia proved too strong for Ingwe.

In the first-round meeting, they hammered Ingwe 3-1 before they sealed a memorable double after thrashing them 4-1 in the second-round fixture. In that season only, Gor Mahia scored seven goals against their rivals and conceded only two.

Ingwe Stand a Better Chance to Carry the Day

According to Abich, who currently handles Division One side Kajiado FC, K’Ogalo’s recent problems coupled with the sacking of their coach would swing the favour to AFC, but only if they execute their game plan well.

“I think as per now Gor Mahia are facing issues, problems and not one issue but many issues, chasing away their coach (Martins Neiva) tops the list (of the problems they are currently going through) and on top of that they have been posting poor results in the league and all the tournaments they have featured in so far this season,” Abich told SportsBoom.com.

“It means they will suffer more against AFC Leopards. They will not have it easy.”

Abich, who previously played for Nzoia Sugar, Chemelil Sugar, Sony Sugar, Tusker, A.F.C. Leopards, Kakamega Homeboyz F.C. Sofapaka, Mathare United, Bandari, Mt. Kenya United among other clubs in the Kenyan league, further said Ingwe currently boasts of a better squad than Gor Mahia.

“If you look at the two squads, AFC and Gor players, AFC is better than Gor Mahia, and so far they are doing well in the league than Gor though they also have their own issues, but a derby never takes form, derbies are always won by a team which shows up on the day,” added Abich.

“AFC Leopards will definitely come to counter Gor Mahia and take advantage of the problems they are currently facing, remember coach Tomas Trucha is also yawning to beat his bitter rivals, so it will be a close game but the advantage stays with AFC.”

Abich continued: “Performance wise between the two teams AFC are better than Gor Mahia but all the time when you look at the derby, the team which is down always surprisingly comes on top. So the game will not be easy, because Gor Mahia will want to prove something that their last defeat against Bandari was just a fluke and may also want to impress the interim coach.”

‘’Zico’ Can Turn Things Around at Gor Mahia

Abich, who also featured for promotion-chasing Nakuru AllStars back in 2012 on a short-term stint from June, believes the appointment of Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno on an interim basis was a good decision by the Kenyan champions.

“Zedekiah has been there for a long time and he can help the team, however, his impact will only be felt after five to six matches,” explained Abich. “I know he (Zedekiah) has the required experience to revive the team’s fortunes, he has been at Gor before and understands everything about the team, but the derby may have come too soon for him.”

On Gor Mahia’s decision to fire Martins Neiva, Abich said: “I think it was not good to sack coach Martins, he should have been given a year or a full season to evaluate his performance.”

Abich, however, reiterated the need for local clubs to embrace local coaches by saying: “We have seen enough of foreign coaches, they only come here to make money, I suggest teams like Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards should keep the trust on local coaches.

“Tusker have a local coach and they keep doing well season in season out but I don’t understand why Gor and AFC believe in foreign coaches, they don’t come here to work but to make money, it is high time these two clubs changed their mentality towards local coaches and entrusted them with the duties.”

Asked to predict the outcome of the derby, Abich said: “I will go for a AFC win or a draw.

“Gor Mahia have lost the dressing room and it will take them time to recover, remember the same problem that Martins Neiva faced will resurface if AFC beat Gor. Zedekiah will face the same problem and it may even be worse than what happened to the Brazilian.”

Heading into Sunday’s derby, Ingwe are enjoying a better campaign than their rivals. Ingwe are sitting fifth in the 18-team league table with 11 points from eight matches. They have managed three wins, three, two draws and three defeats.

Meanwhile, Gor Mahia’s campaign has not been the best as they are sitting 12th with eight points from six matches. They have suffered two defeats - 2-1 against Nairobi City Stars and 2-0 against Bandari FC - drawn two and won two.

The wins came against Mathare United, who they hammered 4-0 in their season opener, and Posta Rangers, who they defeated 3-0. The unconvincing results forced the club to part ways with Martins Neiva.