Al Ain wary of derby rivals Al Wahda

Al Ain: Following the stoppage of a fortnight, the Etisalat Pro League comes to life again tonight with the tournament entering its 13th week. Today's highlight will be when leaders Al Ain host traditional rivals Al Wahda in an Abu Dhabi ‘clasico'.

Al Ain lead the standings with 27 points but have no illusions about the difficulty of their match against Al Wahda despite their opponents being placed fifth, nine points behind.

"It will be a tough match," head coach Cosmin Olaroiu said on Monday. "Al Wahda are one of the best teams in the country and their place is not suitable to their capabilities. They have good players who can win matches for them, especially Esmail Mattar.

"We are ready to win the match and continue our leadership of the league. Our problem recently is that we create many scoring chances but score few goals. We suffered from the absence of many key players but we can hope that Yasir Qah'tani will be the usual lethal finisher in this match."

Meanwhile, Olaroiu's counterpart at Al Wahda Josef Hickersberger said: "Al Ain is a strong team. We know the sources of its strength and we will work to stop it. We will miss the services of some key players but our reserve bench is prepared to fill in. Our players are always highly motivated for the clasico."

Comeback

In other matches this week, Spaniard Francesco Yeste of Bani Yas will return with a vengeance to Al Wasl stadium, where he played last season before being rejected by Diego Maradona at the start of the season.

Yeste was in Dubai last week leading Bani Yas, who he joined last month, to a 2-1 win over Al Nasr in the Etisalat Cup, scoring both his team's goals.

Second-placed Al Nasr, who are expected to unveil their new Italian striker Luca Toni, will travel to Ajman to face the city team, while third-placed and reigning champions Al Jazira will host Sharjah, Al Shabab will play at home against Dubai and Emirates will host Al Ahli.