Moatasem Abdullah (Dubai)
The “ADNOC Professional League” returns to the forefront, with the start of the “Third Round” matches on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, after the first stop of the tournament, over a period of 27 days, since last August 27 in “FIFA Days”, where the round begins on Saturday with matches between Al-Nasr and Al-Sharjah, and Ittihad Kalba. Al Jazira, Khor Fakkan and Emirates, Al Ain and Ajman, and will be completed on Sunday, with matches between Al Bataeh and Shabab Al Ahly, Al Wahda and Hatta, Al Wasl and Bani Yas.
The first stop of our “league” witnessed the first team participating in a preparatory camp in Croatia, during which it played an international friendly against Costa Rica 4-1, while the “Olympic Whites” qualified for the AFC U-23 Cup finals, by topping their group in the qualifiers, with a draw with China 0-0, beating India 3-0.
During the suspension period, 12 clubs played the first round matches of the “Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup”, which was held in a home-and-away system, and the representatives of “our league” in the group stage of the “AFC Champions League 2023-2024” achieved positive results, with Al Ain winning against its host Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan. 3-0, and Sharjah tied without goals against its host Al-Sadd.
The start of the third round of “Our League” coincides with the end of the summer transfer period, which began last July 3, and the curtain came down on Thursday evening, and witnessed a total of 198 transactions for professional clubs, including 118 citizen players, 33 residents, 2 born in the state, and 55 players. A foreigner.
At the start of the round, attention is focused on the confrontation of “Al-Ameed” against its guest, “The King”, at Al Maktoum Stadium, the stronghold of “Al-Azraq”, where the owners of the land in the search for the first victory are counting on the morale of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the “Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup” against Ajman 6. -3, in the aggregate of the two-legged matches, while Al-Sharjah, led by its new Malian striker, Marija, hopes to compensate for the loss of the last round against Al-Wasl 1-3.
The advantage in direct confrontations between the two teams in the “Pro League” is in favor of “Al-Ameed” with 11 victories, compared to 9 for Sharjah, and a draw in 6 matches, while the balance of direct confrontations at Al Maktoum Stadium is equal with 6 victories for each team, and a draw in match.
At Ittihad Kalba Stadium, the Tigers’ desire to win their first win collides with the ambitions of their guest, Abu Dhabi Pride, who wants to compensate for the loss of the last round to Al-Wahda in the derby 1-2, and Al-Jazira excels in direct confrontations with 13 victories, compared to a draw in two matches. And one loss, noting that the “Tigers” suffered the largest number of losses in the history of their participation in the league against Al-Jazira.
Al Ain receives the returner with a valuable victory outside its bases, at the beginning of its journey in the Asian Champions League against Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan 3-0, its guest, Ajman, at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, and the opportunity seems good for Al-Zaeem, who has the “full mark” with 6 points in the first two rounds in the league. Confirming its advantage in direct confrontations against “Orange”, looking for its first win of the season, Al Ain won 18 previous confrontations against Ajman, compared to a draw 3 times, and a loss in one match.
The match between Khor Fakkan and its guest, the Emirates, will witness the first appearance of the new coaches at the level of the “ADNOC Professional League”, the Spanish Gerard Sargoza, assistant coach of the first team for Khor Fakkan, who took over the task of leading the “Eagles” instead of Abdulaziz Al-Anbari, in front of his compatriot Luis Planagoma, the new coach of the Emirates team, who He took over the job before his team’s match against Al-Wahda 0-5, in the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup, succeeding Mohamed Al-Jalbut.
Cosmin’s advantage
5 confrontations brought together the Serbian coaches Goran, the current coach of Al-Nasr, and the Romanian coach Cosmin of Sharjah, at the “Professional League” level, where the latter excels with 3 wins, compared to a draw in two matches, without a loss before Saturday’s match.
——–
Favorite net
Ali Mabkhout, the Al-Jazira striker and the historic top scorer for “Our League”, in his team’s match against its host Ittihad Kalba, stands one goal away from equaling his tally of the most goals against a single team in the league, after scoring 17 goals against the “Tigers”, compared to 18 goals in the league. Al Dhafra’s relegated goal for the First League.
——
“The Leader’s” Nightmare
The confrontations in front of Al Ain pose a direct threat to Ajman in the professional league, as Al-Zaeem is the team that has won the most over the “Orange” in the league with 18 victories, during which it scored the largest percentage of the goals conceded by Ajman, with 71 goals.
——
The cuff is neutral
Khor Fakkan and the Emirates met before Saturday’s match in the third round, in two matches at the level of the professional league for the 2021-2022 season, during which they exchanged a victory score for each team with a score of 2-1.
Saturday matches
Al-Nasr – Sharjah 17:20
Ittihad Kalba – Al Jazeera 17:20
Khor Fakkan – UAE 20:00
Al Ain – Ajman 20:00
Sunday matches
Al-Bataeh – Shabab Al-Ahly 17:20
Al Wahda – Hatta 17:20
Al Wasl – Baniyas 20:00
#AlNasr #AlSharjah.. #Disengagement #Blue #Stadium