A hot summit between Sharjah and Al Ain…and the numbers support unity in front of Khor Fakkan

The quarter-finals of the Professional League Cup (Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Football Cup) begin today with two strong confrontations, when Al Wahda hosts Khor Fakkan at 16:50 pm at Al Nahyan Stadium, and the other meeting witnesses a heated summit between Sharjah and its guest Al Ain at 19:30.

The confrontation between “Annabi” and “Eagles” will be the third between the two sides in the history of the competition, after they exchanged wins in the 2021-2022 season. When Al-Wahda won at home with an unanswered goal, before Khor Fakkan responded with a 3-2 victory, but the qualification ticket was decided by “Al-Annabi”.

Al-Wahda enters the match with the advantage in numbers at its home stadium, as it has not suffered any losses in the last seven matches it played in the tournament at Al Nahyan Stadium, achieving five victories and two draws. The stadium has not witnessed any negative draw for Al-Wahda in the tournament since October 2015 against Al-Ain, after the team scored goals in the last 28 consecutive matches at home.

On the other hand, Khor Fakkan seeks to put an end to its series of negative results in the quarter-finals, after failing to achieve any victory during four previous matches in this round.

The team’s matches away from home tend to be offensive in nature, as none of their last 19 meetings in the tournament away from home were without goals, a series extending since their last goalless draw in November 2020 against Al Ain.

Al-Wahda has a strong record in the quarter-finals, having played 12 matches, winning six of them and drawing three times, compared to three defeats, which strengthens its position as one of the most prominent candidates to advance to the final stages of the competition.

In the second match, Sharjah will host Al Ain at home, in a confrontation that brings together two teams with a long history in the tournament, and a common ambition to continue progress in the current edition.

The tournament witnessed five previous confrontations between the two teams. While Al Ain prevailed in two of them, and two matches ended in a draw, Sharjah achieved one victory, the most notable of which was when it won the title in the 2023 final at the expense of Al Ain. The two teams’ previous confrontations were characterized by excitement and abundance of goals, as they witnessed 17 goals scored at a rate of 3.4 goals per match, including 10 goals for Al Ain compared to seven for Sharjah, which reflects the balanced attacking nature between the two sides.

Sharjah participated in nine matches within the same round, during which it achieved two wins, two draws, and suffered losses on five occasions. On the other hand, Al Ain has a mixed record in the quarter-finals, as it played 12 matches, winning four of them, drawing three, and losing five matches.