10 facts at the top of the “decisive Clásico” between Al Ain and Shabab Al Ahly

All eyes are on the anticipated confrontation between Al Ain, the leader of the Professional Football League, and its direct pursuer, Shabab Al Ahly, at 08:30 tomorrow evening, in the 22nd round at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, in a summit that exceeds the three-point limit, summarizing a deep struggle between dominance and continuity, and between stability and diversity, and as the season enters its decisive stages, the minute details and historical numbers appear to be a likely factor in shaping the features of the “El Clásico”, which may reshape the title race, and determine its direction in the rounds. The last, as 10 facts are at the forefront of this summit, as follows:

Third binary

Al Ain enters the confrontation with the advantage of winning the first leg with a goal scored by Alejandro Kaku, which is the only loss for Shabab Al Ahly this season, which gives Al-Zaeem a great morale boost before the direct confrontation, as the advantage extends to the psychological dimension, as the team has the opportunity to achieve the double for the third time in its history after the 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 seasons, which reflects its ability to be decisive in major confrontations.

10 confrontations

The “El Clásico” confrontation will be held for the 11th time in the history of the two sides’ meetings, on Friday, as the two teams met on 10 previous occasions, during which Al Ain achieved four victories compared to three for Shabab Al Ahly, while three matches ended in a draw.

This temporal balance, in turn, reflects artistic convergence, and confirms that such peaks are not subject to fixed factors, but are often decided by small details and instantaneous details.

Continuous knot

Despite Al Ain’s historical superiority, Shabab Al Ahly finally succeeded in achieving two consecutive victories at its rival’s stadium, in a development that reflects its improved ability to deal with pressures outside its homeland. However, it has never achieved three consecutive victories there, which makes the confrontation a real test of the “Knights'” ability to consolidate this superiority and break one of the most difficult knots in the league.

Historical superiority

Al Ain maintains a clear advantage in the record of direct confrontations, as it is the most victorious over Shabab Al Ahly in the professional league with 14 victories, and it also occupies second place in the list of teams with the most goals against it (54), behind Al Jazira, and this reflects historical dominance, but it is currently colliding with a closer competitive reality.

record

Al Ain stands on the cusp of an exceptional historical achievement, after equaling the longest unbeaten streak in the history of the league (28 matches), which is the number recorded in the name of Al Jazira between the years 2010 and 2011. This number gives the confrontation an additional dimension, as avoiding a loss will place “Al-Zaeem” alone at the top of the competition’s historical record.

Al-Muqbali’s achievement

Shabab Al-Ahly goalkeeper Hamad Al-Muqbali is in a special confrontation, as he has the opportunity to break the record for the number of clean-sheet matches in one season, as he is currently equal with former goalkeeper Majed Nasser (13 matches), and if he succeeds in keeping a clean-sheet in tomorrow’s match, he will hold the record.

Rahimi’s puzzle

Despite his remarkable brilliance since his move to Al Ain, Sufyan Rahimi remains a mystery in the matches of Shabab Al Ahly, as he did not score or assist any goal during eight previous matches against the “Dubai Knights”, which is a paradox that adds an exciting dimension, as the player seeks to break this silence in one of the most important matches of the season.

Fixed balls

The numbers reveal the scarcity of decisions through set pieces in the history of the two teams’ confrontations, as only one goal was scored from a direct free kick, which was mediated by Hosni Abd Rabbo in 2008, and this reality explains the nature of “El Clásico” matches that are decided in different ways, in contrast to direct free kicks.

Surname complex

Tomorrow’s confrontation will be the 10th in the history of the two teams’ meetings, which Shabab Al-Ahly, the title holders, will play, but what is interesting is that the balance is clearly tilted in favor of the Al-Ain team in this scenario, as it achieved six victories out of nine confrontations, compared to one victory for Shabab Al-Ahly and two draws.

Offensive versatility

16 different players scored for Shabab Al-Ahly this season, which is the highest among all the clubs in the tournament, which makes it characterized by a clear diversity in its scoring sources, while only nine players scored Al-Zaeem’s goals.