Ahly will be eager to put arch-rivals Zamalek to the sword and effectively kill off their Egyptian Premier League title aspirations when both sides meet in a vital Cairo derby on Saturday.
Should the Red Devils prevail, they will go eight points clear of their perennial foes at the top and leave Zamalek with an uphill climb to bridge that gap.
Although the competition has not yet approached its halfway stage, Zamalek are aware that any loss would likely deal a killer blow to their title hopes, especially with a couple of other challengers, Pyramids FC and Future, enjoying fine runs.
Ahly top the table with 30 points, one ahead of Future and four clear of third-placed Pyramids, with the latter duo having played a game more. Zamalek, who played the same number of games as Ahly, have 26 points in fourth.
Zamalek will fondly recall how they played out an exciting 2-2 draw with Ahly in June last year despite conceding an early goal, which kept alive their hopes and ultimately saw them clinch the title for a second successive season.
Their recent form has been alarming though. They have not won any game since defeating Ismaily 3-1 last month, losing to Aswan and drawing with Dakhleya and Ittihad.
They were also knocked out of the Egypt Cup semis after a shootout defeat by Pyramids following a 1-1 draw last Monday. What made the loss even more bitter is that Pyramids played with 10 men for most of the game after defender Ali Gabr had received a straight red card on 11 minutes.
LIVE: El Zamalek v Al Ahly | Cairo Derby 2023
13:30 ET Canada-USA | 20:30 Cairo Local Time | Live FEED Will update 30mins before the K.O.
