LIVE: Al Ahly v Petrojet | Egyptian League | DEC 29, 2017
Ahly will be desperate not to drop any points when they face Petrojet on Friday to avoid losing more ground on Egyptian Premier League leaders Ismaily.
The title holders dropped seven points in three games, after being held to a 1-1 draw by Wadi Degla on Monday.
The Red Devils lie second in the table with 30 points, seven behind leaders Ismaily, but they have a chance to go top if they win their three matches in hand.
Under-fire coach Hossam El-Badry was given a vote of confidence on Wednesday when Ahly’s management renewed confidence in him despite the team’s recent poor run in the Egyptian Premier League.
“There is a long way to go, and at the end we will be the champions,” El-Badry told the post-match news conference after the Degla draw.
The 57-year-old named a 23 man list for Friday’s clash, which will see the return of international defender Rami Rabie after recovering from a muscle injury that sidelined him for six weeks. .
Rabie’s recovery is good news for El-Badry who suffered from the several absences in his backline.
El-Badry introduced two fullbacks Ayman Ashraf and Mohamed Hani on the heart of the team’s defense against Wadi Degla to compensate for the absence of his natural central defenders Rabie, Saad Samir and Mohamed Naguib.
Wingers Moemen Zakareya and Junior Ajaye were dropped from the squad against Petrojet. Zakareya is suffering a muscle injury while the Nigerian winger was left-out for technical reasons.
The Ahly coach will have a tough mission against his former assistant Mohamed Youssef who is in charge at Petrojet.
The Petroleum side struggled during the past two games as they lost to Assiuoty Sports 2-1 and Arab contractors 2-0 respectively.
Petrojet are 11 in the league table with 17 points and a win against Ahly will boost the morale of the team before the new year.
