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Leaders Al Jazira host Al Ain in a crucial Etisalat Pro- League derby

Six decisive matches will be played tomorrow, Sunday December 19, in the 10th week of the Etisalat Pro-League competition. Three games are to commence at 6:15pm and the other three are due to kick off at 8:30pm. This will also be repeated in the last week of the first round when six matches are scheduled on December 23 so as to pave the way for the UAE Senior National team to start their preparations the following day for the Asian National teams' championship which will be organized by Qatar next month.

Al Jazira, the Etisalat Pro-League leaders with 23 points, will host Al Ain in a crucial and tough Abu Dhabi Emirate's derby; kick off at 8:30pm. The hosts hope to snatch three valuable points to continue their winning streak and at the same time keep their record without a single defeat. But the visiting squad, currently classified in the 8th position with ten points, are looking to compensate for their humiliating 1-4 loss in round 9 achieved by Kalba which put the losers far away behind the competing teams. Al Ain's line -up might see some changes tomorrow as their coach Abdul Hameed Al Mistily is willing to field new faces, whereas the hosts are expected to play with their fixed probables.

Al Ahli of Dubai, who did not play in the last week fixtures as their match against Al Wahda was postponed due to the latter's participation in the FIFA Club World Cup championship, will meet their city-team Al Shabab at Rashid stadium, kick off at 6:15pm. They are staying in the fifth place with 14 points, two points ahead of their contenders Al Shabab and still have one game at hand; a date will be fixed later for this match. Both teams have won four matches so far, but  Al Shabab have lost in five games and still remain without any draw, while the home team have lost and drew twice.

Al Wahda, who finished their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup competition taking the sixth birth, will tackle it out against Bani Yas at Al Shamkha pitch at 6:15pm. The hosts are staying in the 2nd place with 21 points after winning in seven games, losing twice, but their record is clear of any draws. The visitors are in the 4th place with 15 points from 8 matches and they are going to miss the efforts of their solid defender Hamdan Al Kamali who received a red card in his team's match against Pachuca of Mexico in the FIFA Club World Cup played last Wednesday at Zayed Sports City. The Brazilian player Fernando Bayano and his teammate Hayder Alo Ali will not take part in Al Wahda's encounter against Bani Yas due to injury. Bayano and Hayder need two and four weeks respectively to recover from injury.

Sharjah are to travel to the Western region to face Al Dhafra at 6:15pm hoping to come back with three points that would push them forward and raise their tally to 14 points. But a win for the host team, Al Dhafra, will give them an equal balance with Sharjah as they are now having 8 points from two wins and two draws and five loses.

In the other matches of the day, Kalba will play at their pitch at 8:30pm against Dubai. Both teams are staying in the relegation zone with Dubai in the 11th position with six points and Kalba at the bottom of the table with only four points. The two lowly squads have made a big surprise in the 9th week. Dubai beat Al Wasl 2-1 to hinder their march while Kalba maintained their only win so far after defeating Al Ain 4-1. In the other game Al Wasl will play at their ground at 8:30pm when they host their city-team Al Nasr. In spite of losing last week to Dubai, but Al Wasl are still one of the teams struggling for the title. They are in the 3rd position with 16 points whereas Al Nasr are in the 9th place after collecting 10 points.