I-League 2024-25: Mid-Season Review
We are now officially at the halfway point of the 2024-25 I-League season, with every team having played 11 games so far. It’s the Churchill Brothers who find themselves at the top midway, with 22 points to their name while newly-promoted SC Bengaluru are at the bottom with just eight. Some intense action has taken place on the field in this campaign, with goals galore (195) and a whole lot of sending-offs (19) as well. So, we decided to take a deeper look at the season thus far and highlight the teams and players who have stood out, for better or worse.
Shillong Lajong have been banging in the goals at quite a rate. No team has averaged 2.5 goals per game in any of the last 5 seasons and they’ll make some history if they keep up this rate. League leaders Churchill Brothers are the only other team to average over two goals a game and it’s a big reason why they are where they are in the standings. Shillong Lajong aren’t doing quite so well, though, but we’ll get to why soon enough.
At the other end, SC Bengaluru are averaging just 0.8 goals per game but they’re actually not the worst in that regard. Dempo FC, the other newly promoted side, are at the bottom with an average of just 0.6 goals per game. Both these teams have scored just four goals from open play, but there is one team that’s scored even fewer.
Rajasthan United have found the back of the net only three times from open play, which is shocking. They have been great at scoring from set pieces, though, with their nine goals from set plays being tied for second-most this season. Only Inter Kashi and Churchill Brothers (10 each), have scored more. As for the most open play goals, it’s unsurprisingly Shillong Lajong who are at the top with 21.
Getting back to SC Bengaluru and Dempo FC, the fact that the two teams new to the division are struggling to find the back of the net perhaps isn’t too much of a surprise. There is, however, one area where they’re quite far apart.
Dempo SC aren’t letting in even a goal a game, and it’s why despite their struggles offensively, they’re still eighth in the standings. As for SC Bengaluru, they’re letting in 1.9 goals a game and it explains why they’re at the bottom. They’re not the worst defense, though, as that unwanted title belongs to Aizawl FC, who are averaging 2.4 goals conceded per game.
A bulk of those have come from set pieces, with Aizawl having let in a league-high 13 goals from them. They have also conceded a league-high 5 goals from outside the box and are just letting them in, in every way imaginable. Aizawl started the season with two clean sheets in a row but have been hemorrhaging goals ever since.
Another team to start the campaign by keeping a clean sheet was Namdhari FC and they boast the best defensive record this season. We spoke about Aizawl’s problems from set pieces and outside the box and Namdhari have done well in both regards. They have conceded three goals from set plays and one from outside the box, both tied for the fewest in the competition. That rock-solid backline has helped them get to second in the standings with 21 points and they’re breathing down the leaders’ neck.
As for the leaders, Churchill Brothers are the only team in the top five in both categories and that’s certainly a recipe for success. Teams have found it especially difficult to break them down from open play, as they have conceded a league-low three goals from it.
Shillong Lajong, meanwhile, are averaging 1.6 goals conceded per game and it’s why they’re down at 5th with 16 points, instead of being near the top. Of the 18 goals they have let in, 11 have been from open play, which is a lot more than Churchill Brothers.
Let’s now get back to the attacking front and leading the charge for Churchill Brothers has been Wayde Lekay, with the South African scoring 8 goals in 11 games this season. It’s not a good enough tally to lead the Golden Boot race, though.
Tardin has been on fire for Shillong Lajong and has a shot at becoming the first player to score 20 goals in a single campaign since Willis Plaza and Pedro Manzi did it in the 2018-19 season. Of those 11 goals, nine have come from open play.
Tardin has done all his damage from inside the box, having not scored a single goal from outside it. So, who has been firing them in from distance? Well, that would be Gokulam FC’s Nacho Abeledo who has thrice from outside the box. No team, apart from Aizawl and his own, has scored more goals from outside the box than Abeledo, which is quite something.
Something Abeledo hasn’t managed to do, though, is score with his head or right foot, as all of his six goals have come from his left. As for who has scored the most with the head and right foot, that’d be David Castaneda with three and Tardin with nine respectively. Their teams would be hoping these three can keep this up and if they do, it’d bode well for them for the second half of the season.
We do look set for an exciting second half, as the top four teams are separated by just four points. Churchill Brothers do look like the favorites to win the title at this point but the likes of Namdhari FC and Gokulam FC will give them a run for their money.
