ABU DHABI // Al Ahli can celebrate the Arabian Gulf League title as early as Sunday night if they can secure victory over Al Jazira at the Mohammed bin Zayed stadium.
Ahli’s chances of winning the league with five games left were improved after their closest challengers, Al Shabab, were beaten by Al Wahda 2-1 on Saturday night.
Ahli are on 51 points, nine more than Shabab, with a game in hand.
It also provides an opportunity for Jazira (38) to fight for second place in the table.
Jazira will be looking for a psychological boost over Ahli, though, when they meet them in the Arabian Gulf League before they clash again in the Arabian Gulf Cup final on April 19.
Both have been playing in three different competitions – the league, cup and the Asian Champions League – in the past month and are circumspect about their approaches.
“It is a very difficult game for both teams because of the travel involved and playing hard games every week for the last one month,” said Walter Zenga, the Jazira coach.
“Ahli can take the liberty to do anything they want in this game because they have a very comfortable lead at the top of the league. But it is important for us to win.”
Jazira are winless in their past five games. They were beaten 1-0 by Esteghlal of Iran in the continental championship last week and Zenga’s objective will be to bounce back with a win as soon as possible.
“Football can be cruel because sometimes we can’t win even after playing a good game and creating several scoring opportunities as we have experienced in our last five games,” the Italian said.
“I am still happy with my players because they have been able to create scoring opportunities despite failing to convert them into goals. Hopefully we can find the targets in this game.
“For Ahli, they want to get the league out of their way as soon as possible so they can concentrate in the other competitions – and they deserve to, because they have played good football and have won most of their games.”
Zenga said his team had been in a position to challenge Ahli but the loss to Ajman on February 7 put paid to their chances.
“Obviously they are now the best team at the moment and we need to raise our level to match them in this game,” he said.
Jazira will be without two key players for their game. Abdulla Mousa is out with an ankle injury he received against Esteghlal while Felipe Caicedo, the Ecuadorean forward, serves a one-match ban for a red card against Al Nasr in the last league game.
“I trust on all my players and I am sure anyone taking the places of Mousa and Caicedo will do a good job for us,” Zenga said. “It will be an interesting game because we both then play in the ACL and meet again after two weeks.”
Al Ain v Baniyas
Mid-table Al Ain and Baniyas go head-to-head as they look to put together respectable finishes to their disappointing seasons.
“We want to finish as high as possible in the league table,” said Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic. “We are in eighth but only eight points separate the third and eighth teams. So this game is important for us and good results will be good for the morale of the players as we are also playing in the Asian Champions League.”
Al Ain and Baniyas are locked on 30 points each with the latter ahead on goal difference.
Sharjah v Emirates
Sharjah will be hoping to bounce back from defeat to Al Ahli when they meet Emirates at home on Sunday night.
Paulo Bonamigo’s side slipped from third to fifth after Al Wahda’s win over the second-placed Al Shabab but a win on Sunday night would restore their position in the top three.
“We are playing against a team battling relegation and I believe they will have all the motivation to give us a very hard time. So we have to play at our best to win the three points from them,” the Brazilian coach said.
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