Al-Jazeera and Kalba… course correction test

The 16th round of the Professional Football League begins today, with two matches, the first bringing together Al-Jazira with Kalba, while Al-Bataeh meets Al-Dhafra, to be completed tomorrow, with Al-Ain Summit with Al-Nasr, and Khor Fakkan’s match against Ajman, while three matches were postponed due to the connections between Shabab Al-Ahly, Al-Wahda, Al-Sharjah, and Al-Wasl in the Asian participation.

Al Jazira will host its counterpart, Kalba, at 20:00, at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, in a confrontation during which “Abu Dhabi Pride” is looking to end its series of negative results, after being unable to achieve victory in the last three matches in the competition.

Al-Jazira occupies fifth place with 22 points, and despite its relative advantage in those matches, during the last three rounds it lost to Al-Wasl 0-1, and tied with Al-Bataeh 1-1, before suffering a painful 0-1 loss to Al-Ain in the final minutes, which imposes on it the necessity of a quick return to the winning track, to maintain its chances of competing for one of the external participation cards.

The match is expected to witness the first appearance of Angolan striker Felicio Melson, with Al Jazira, who comes from Serbian Red Star during the winter transfer period, along with Russian Sochi defender Nabil Aberdeen, while Al Jazira fans are awaiting the participation of Marcos Meloni, the former Sharjah player, after his recovery from injury.

On the other hand, Kalba is not in a better situation, as it occupies 11th place with 16 points, and has not achieved a win in the last four matches, contenting itself with two draws against Al Wasl and Sharjah, and two losses against Al Ain and Ajman, which are results that precipitated the dismissal of Serbian coach Vuk Razovic, and the assignment of Iraqi Ghazi Fahd to lead the team temporarily.

The “Tigers” regained the services of their player Ahmed Abu Namos after the end of the suspension penalty, completing the team’s ranks in the first appearance of the new coach, in search of a beginning that restores balance and confidence.

Al Bataeh – Al Dhafra

Al-Bataeh will receive its guest, Al-Dhafra, at 17:30, at Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium, in a confrontation that carries a special character for the landowners, who appear for the first time in five years without their top scorer Anatoly Betrand, who transferred to the Libyan club Al-Ittihad during the current winter transfer period.

Anatoly was one of the most prominent pillars of Al-Bataeh in recent years, as he played 101 matches in the team’s jersey, scored 32 goals, and contributed directly to their rise to the professional league, which makes today’s match the actual beginning of a new stage offensively.

Al-Bataeh hopes that the French entrant, Seco Liga, will succeed in filling the void, especially after a series of reinforcements, which included Antonio Junior from Al-Nasr, Edison Suarez and Saeed Suleiman, in addition to the Sharjah duo Al-Hassan Saleh and Haroun Mohammed, and these are deals that coach Farhad Majidi is counting on to stay away from danger areas.

Al-Bataeh occupies the penultimate place with 12 points, and is going through a period of relative improvement, after avoiding loss in the last four matches, achieving a win and three draws, to collect six points, which is the same total that it collected in the first 11 matches of the season.

On the other hand, Al Dhafra enters the match in 10th place with 16 points, relying on its good results away from home, as it did not lose in the last two matches away from home, achieving a victory over Khor Fakkan 3-2, and a draw with Ajman 1-1, in an indicator that gives it a morale boost before today’s confrontation.