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Etisalat Pro-League Breaks After This Weekend’s Matches

This weekend hosts the fifth round of the Etisalat Pro-League competition, which will then break for 12 days to allow for the preparations of the National team prior to their participation in the Asian Finals as well as the GCC National teams' friendly tournament in Yemen. The Etisalat Pro-League squads will come back to continue their title battle in mid-October.

The fifth round will begin at Dubai Club's stadium when they host defending champions Al Wahda, kick off at 5:20 pm. The home team remains at the bottom of the table without any points and need to work hard to open their tally. They have lost their previous four matches against Al Ain 3- 4, Al Shabab 2-0, Al Nasr 1-3 and Sharjah 0-1. Their opponents Al Wahda are a long way from their usual form, which has been underlined by the poor performances they have demonstrated in the four games they have played so far. Al Wahda started their campaign with a surprise defeat when they lost in their away match to Al Wasl 0-2. But they compensated for this loss with a 3-1 victory over visitor's Kalba but subsequently lost four points when they were forced to two goalless draw by Al Jazira in the third round and then by their traditional rivals Al Ain in the fourth round. It is the first goalless draw between Al Ain and Al Wahda in the last 10 years. Al Wahda are currently in 9th place with five points from four games.

Al Ahli will travel to Al Ain to face the home squad in one of the toughest matches this round starting at 8 pm. Both teams will miss the efforts of some strong players, but the home side is the one who faces more difficulties in respect to the absence of a number of their key players. Their two Ivory Coast players Ibrahima Keta and Juma'a Saeed will not take part in the game due to severe injuries in their debut matches against Dubai and Sharjah respectively. Argentinean striker Sand will also be on the sideline due to three yellow cards. Abdul Hameed Al Misteki, coach of Al Ain and the only national coach in the Etisalat Pro-League, is set to rely on his young national players in the match against Al Ahli. The visitors will also play without their front liner Bance who was shown the red card in his team's third round match against Al Jazira, which proved a real turning point of that game. The home team are in 3rd position with eight points whilst their competitors are in 8th place after collecting five points.

The 5th round continues on Friday, October 1 with two matches. Al Nasr will host Sharjah in a match starting at 5:20 pm while Al Jazira will face Bani Yas at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, kick off at 8 pm. Al Nasr are in 7th place with six points and their rivals Sharjah have seven points, putting them in 5th position.

This round will be concluded on Saturday, September 2 when Kalba and Al Dhafra fight it out to secure the three points. Both squads are classified in 10th and 11th positions with three points and a single point respectively, the match kicks off at 5:15 pm. In the second match of the day Al Shabab will play at home when they host their city rivals Al Wasl at 8 pm. The visiting team are on top of the standings with nine points whilst their opponents Al Shabab are in 6th place with six points.

Andre Sengahoor, the striker from the current second placed team Bani Yas, scored the first hat-trick since the start of the Etisalat Pro-League. He found the back of the net thrice against Kalba in their previous match to raise his tally to six goals that put him on top of the overall goal scorers.