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Al Wasl and Al Shabab face Al Ahli and Al Nasr in the third round

The Etisalat Pro League 2012 - 2013 third round will witness very important games prior to the two – week stoppage period. Three out of seven matches are scheduled for Thursday and other four games for Friday, October 4 and 5 respectively

Al Wasl, who are sitting on top of the table with 4 points, will host their city rivals Al Ahli at Zabeel Stadium in one of the strongest games in this round, kick off at 8:15pm. The match won’t be easy for both teams as the hosts are seeking to continue their league leadership while the visitors are trying to come up with a positive result. Al Wasl are currently demonstrating a lovely and balanced performance and the fingerprints of their French coach Bruno Metsu has become clear on the team, in addition to the presence of the Italian striker Alfaro, one of the best foreign players during the last two rounds and leader of scores with 5 goals. At the same time, Al Wasl are aware of the power of Al Ahli’s quartet expatriate players, especially Brazilian Grafite second scorer of the championship with 4 goals, Chilean playmaker Jimenez and Lebanese strong defender Yousuf Mohammed.

Dubai will face Bani Yas in the same day at 5:10pm and Ittihad Kalba will host their rivals Al Wahda at 5:05pm. Bani Yas will miss the efforts of their player Mohammed Zidane in addition to goalkeeper Mohammed Ali Ghuloom due to injury.

The third round matches will be completed the second day when hosts Al Ain meet Al Dhafra at Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium at 5:10pm in the absence of three of their key players namely French striker Kembo Ekoko due to injury, Abdulaziz Fayez who recently underwent a medical surgery in Italy and Romanian midfielder Mirel Radio who was shown the red card in Al Ain’s opening game against Al Ahli.  Al Shaab will take on Dibba Al Fujairah at Sharjah Stadium at 5:10pm and Ajman will travel to Abu Dhabi to face Al Jazira at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium at 8:15pm. The home team will miss the efforts of their injured Argentinean player Delgado. 

Al Shabab – Al Nasr game is considered the most important one in the second day when they meet At Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Al Shabab Club at 8:15pm. The hosts, who have collected 3 points so far, are seeking to compensate their second week lone goal loss to Al Wahda, while Al Nasr who raised their tally to 4 points following their 2-1 win over Al Jazira and a 2-2 draw against Al Wasl, are hoping to continue their positive results. Al Shabab, who will play without their Uzbek player Azizbek Haydarov due to a suspension for two games, will depend in the front line on the services of Brazilian Ciel and Essa Abdullah whereas Al Nasr depend on their local players among whom is Habeeb Al Fardan who netted the second equalizer in the previous round and foreign players especially Mascara and Nashat Akram. Both Al Shabab, led by Brazilian Paqueta and Al Nasr supervised by Italian coach Walter Zenga are expected to play an exciting game.