If history is anything to go by, especially recently, Nigeria should have nothing to worry about going into their opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations against Tanzania on Tuesday at the 35,000-capacity Complexe Sportif de Fès in Morocco.
In their 20 previous appearances at the tournament since making their debut in 1963, Nigeria have only lost five of their opening 20 games. None of those losses have come against supposedly weaker teams.
The Eagles have only fallen to United Arab Republic/Egypt (1963, 2010), Algeria (1990), Morocco (2004), Ivory Coast (2008).
Of the other 15 games, only two have been draws, and one of those 12 wins came against Tanzania in 1980, as the Eagles swept all in their path on their way to claiming a first ever AFCON title.
Still, Tanzania can draw some confidence from the knowledge that those two draws have come during the Super Eagles' last four appearances at the AFCON and against teams that the Nigerians were expected to beat -- Burkina Faso in 2013, and Equatorial Guinea at the last tournament in 2023.
For Tanzania, making only their fourth appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations, this is a welcome ray of hope for a team that has never made it past the group stage during previous appearances in 1980, 2019 and 2023. Worse, those exits have been without a single win, drawing three and losing six of their previous nine encounters.
If the result is not in doubt, then here are a few things we should be keeping an eye on when the Super Eagles line out.
Leonard Solms assesses South Africa's chances of a deep run at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Chelle's future in the balance, but should it be?
Nigeria Football Federation president Ibrahim Musa Gusau revealed in a recent interview with former Nigeria captain Segun Odegbami that the NFF had set a target of reaching the AFCON final for coach Eric Sekou Chelle.
"The mandate is for him to get to the final of the tournament," Gusau said on Odegbami's Eagle7 103.7 FM.
Incidentally, Sekou Chelle's predecessor Jose Peseiro was given a semifinal target at the last tournament -- one he not only met, but exceeded. Still, it was not enough to keep his job as the NFF declined to meet his demands for a contract extension.
For Sekou Chelle, who took over a team in the heat of World Cup qualifying, and came close to getting the job done, it seems a very high bar to set.
One thing Gusau did not get into was what would happen if Sekou Chelle failed to meet his final target. Already, there have been calls for the coach to be fired for failing to meet his initial target after the Super Eagles were eliminated from World Cup qualifying.
But the NFF have held firm and allowed him to take the team to AFCON. It is possible that the target is to provide a get-out clause for the federation in the event that the team performs poorly and fan pressure forces their hand.
But the team's performance, and by extension the coach's fate, is intertwined with that of the federation, too.
A top sports commission official told ESPN that while a second successive World Cup failure had led to increased scrutiny for the NFF, and a need for change, the Nations Cup provided something of a stay of a delayed response that might need to be made, especially with NFF elections due in the coming year.
One of Sekou Chelle's biggest issues is his insistence on a midfield diamond that he insists on shoehorning players into.
Nigerians want results, but they also want to enjoy their team playing good football. If the coach chooses to plant his flag on the heel of his midfield diamond, he must win games. Otherwise, the consequences could be dire.
Against Tanzania, he will probably have some wiggle room to be tactically flexible. What he does and how he reacts will determine how he is viewed moving ahead.
That said, irrespective of whatever result he gets, the wise choice would be to keep the coach and let him begin the rebuild ahead of 2030.
Nigeria need support for Osimhen
Super Eagles coaches have constantly struggled with who partners Victor Osimhen upfront.
The Galatasaray forward has proven himself to be the perfect marksman for the Super Eagles. Even when he does not score, his mere presence is enough to worry defenders, opening up opportunities for others.
But when Osimhen is not scoring, the team needs others to step up.
Despite plenty of attacking talent, the team have found it hard to find a partnership that really works. Paul Onuachu, Kelechi Iheanacho, Victor Boniface, Terem Moffi, Tolu Arokodare and, more recently, Akor Adams have all had their shot.
None have quite matched his production, either as a partner or a replacement.
Two of those, Onuachu and Adams, are in the squad, and it will be up to Sekou Chelle to fashion how to get them to fire in partnership with or without his top forward.
Who starts against Tanzania on Tuesday -- likely to be Adams -- will provide some inkling into Sekou Chelle's thought process, and don't be surprised to see him subbed off if he fails to deliver.
Ed Dove wonders if a fresh Mohamed Salah will give Egypt their best shot at AFCON glory in recent years.
Will Lookman find his form?
One name that was not mentioned above was Ademola Lookman. The Atalanta forward is one who, despite usually playing wide, has been almost as efficient as Osimhen in Nigeria colours.
Barring some harsh luck, missed calls by referees and a couple of disallowed goals, Lookman would have notched a few decisive goals in World Cup qualifying that could have made a world of difference for the Super Eagles, especially in Osimhen's absence.
And then his form took a dip as he battled Atalanta for most of the past year and into the summer in a bid to force a transfer away. The club held firm, the forward was iced from the first team, his form nosedived and the Super Eagles suffered as a consequence.
With some resolution having been reached in that situation, the Lookman of old appears to be back and it showed in his resurgence in the scrimmage against Egypt, where he was a constant threat.
If he can find some of the form he showed that earned him the African Player of the year award, Sekou Chelle might not need to bother too much about the others -- at least not immediately. The forward has welcomed the challenge.
"It's exciting to be here. It's another opportunity for us to go out there and prove ourselves once again. It's a pleasure to have that pressure on us," he said. "Obviously, we have to show quality in games, to show our togetherness and fight. We have that. If all that comes together, we will do great."
How Lookman begins his tournament on Tuesday against Tanzania could set the tone for how he, and the Super Eagles, do for the rest of the tournament.
How will captaincy affect Ndidi?
Wilfred Ndidi is one of the quiet ones. He has always been one of those players who stay out of the spotlight, preferring to let his game do the talking -- not surprising for a defensive midfielder.
However, anyone close to the team know that Ndidi is not one to be messed with -- not on the pitch, not off it.
For the last few years, he has been deputy to Ahmed Musa and William Troost-Ekong, operating quietly in the background. But the responsibility is now his to shoulder, and when he leads the team out for the first time, it would be instructive to see how being the main man impacts his game.