Dubai: Al Wahda and Al Jazira will tussle for sole ownership at the top in ninth round action of the Arabian Gulf League when the league resumes following a one-month break on Saturday and Sunday.
The top of the table Abu Dhabi derby will be played at 8pm on Sunday between the cross-city rivals who have shown an early hunger for the crown this season.
Currently, Al Wahda are at the top with 18 points with an all-clean record of five wins and three draws after eight rounds. Two of their three drawn encounters have been at home — a 1-1 result against Sharjah and a 2-2 draw against Al Wasl. They dropped vital points to Ajman in a 3-3 draw on the road in the seventh round before steadying their ship with a solitary-goal win against Emirates Club before the break.
On the other hand, Al Jazira have a lone loss, a 2-4 result against defending champions Al Ahli during their sixth round meeting. However, Al Jazira have done well to rectify that lone blip in form with a 3-2 win against Al Nasr followed by a 4-0 thrashing of cellar-placed Kalba in their last encounter.
Both teams look evenly matched at least on paper and Sunday’s encounter may well be decided by the tactical brilliance of the two coaches along with the hunger shown by players on the field.
In third place are Al Shabab with 15 points along with the possibility of climbing as they travel across Deira to Zabeel for their match against a struggling Al Wasl who are in eighth. With a huge emphasis on team work, Al Shabab have been the team to watch with their foreign pack of Carlos Villanueva, Azizbek Haydarov and Edgar Bruno da Silva have a huge impact on the results so far.
Al Nasr, currently in fourth with 14 points, will have to make the long trip to Al Ain to see if they can keep the former league champions in check on their home turf on Sunday.
Sharjah, who started off well but have since fallen in form to slip into 12th place, will make the short trip across to meet tenth-placed Ajman, while Al Dhafra will make the trans-Emirates trip count as they travel all the way to bottom-placed Kalba.
