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Two leading teams Al Jazira and Bani Yas are under tough test

The Etisalat Pro-League Competition Round 17 matches will be played on Sunday and Monday April 24 and 25 with three games being played every night. The competition will break for almost three weeks after this round is over as some of the UFL teams will play their last two games in the 2011 AFC Champions League on May 3 and 10 before they come back and restart their domestic matches on May 15.

 Kalba and Al Wasl will cut the ribbon of this decisive round when they meet tomorrow at Kalba Stadium; kick off 5:55pm. The hosts came out in the last two rounds with lovely results following their win over Al Wasl and Al Dhafra in rounds 15 and 16 with a 2-1 margin that helped them to increase their tally to 14 points and jump two steps forward taking 10th position for the first time since the kick off of the league competition. They will have in this game their first choice striker Mohammad Malalla after recovering from injury, but they will miss the efforts of their defender Yousuf Al Hammadi and midfielder Mansour Mohammad. Their contenders Al Wasl are currently classified in 4th spot on 24 points after losing 1-3 to their city rivals Al Shabab in the previous round. It will be the first match for Al Wasl's local coach Khalifa Mubarak who took over before a couple of days replacing Brazilian Sergio Farias who was dismissed in the last few days due to male results.

Al Shabab and Sharjah will battle out in the same day at Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium at 6pm. The home squad are now taking third place with 27 points while their rivals Sharjah are in 7th spot on 22 points. Both of them are fighting to finish the competition taking better ranks. Al Shabab beat Al Wasl 3-1 in round 16 whereas Sharjah were tied to a 1-1 draw by Al Nasr.

The first day of round 17 will witness a tough game when Al Ain face the visiting team Bani Yas on Sunday at Tahnoun Bin Mohammad Stadium in Qattara at 8:45. The hosts are classified second from bottom with 14 points, the same balance of Kalba but they have one more game in hand against Al Ahli scheduled for May 8. Bani Yas are lying 10 points behind leaders Al Jazira taking second position. Both teams have started a two-day warm up came since yesterday to offer a chance for their players for more concentration. Bani Yas are trying to keep their hopes alive in the title struggle while Al Ain are working hard to pull out of the relegation zone. Al Ain will play tomorrow without their Romanian striker Valentin because the team's Brazilian coach Alexander Gallo is not content with his technical standard after being given a number of chances in the local and Asian matches, but he failed to proof himself. His name will not be even in the team's 18 - player list for the match.

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan, Chairman of Al Ain Board of Directors said in a statement that  Al Ain tomorrow's match against Bani Yas will not be easy for both teams, because of the visitors' desire to  reserve their hope in the title run and at the same time Al Ain are also seeking to confirm their comeback to the league after the positive outcome achieved in their game against Al Wahda, along with the outstanding performance they have shown in their tie with Hangzhou Green Town of China in the 2011  AFC Champions League played recently at Tahnoun Bin Mohammad Stadium in Qattara.

Sheikh Abdullah added: "We will show our best and achieve our objectives during the forthcoming matches to make our aspirations and ambitions come true".

The matches of round 17 will be concluded on Monday this week with other three games. Al Ahli and Dubai are set to meet at Dubai Stadium on Monday April 25 at 6pm. The visitors have collected 22 points, the same balance of Al Nasr and Sharjah and are sitting in the 6th spot. They still have one more game in hand after their last week's match against Al Ain was postponed. But the hosts have raised their tally to 17 points to stay in 9th place after holding Al Wahda in round 16 to a 2-2 draw. Dubai will play with full team while Al Ahli are likely to miss Canavaro from Italy due to injury, but they will have back their two strikers Faisal Khalil and Ahmad Khamis after recovering from injury. They will play this game under the guidance of Al Ain's former local coach Abdul Hamid Al Mistiki who took over only two days ago as a new caretaker to replace the outgoing David O'Leary from Ireland who was sacked after a long debate.

Al Jazira are keen enough to ensure their league's leadership when they play the same day at Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi against lowly Al Dhafra at 6:5pm. The hosts are planning to keep on their winning streak so as to stay on top of the ladder. A win for Al Jazira against their contenders Al Dhafra with a defeat to Bani Yas by Al Ain will secure the league championship title to Al Jazira with a 95%.

In the concluding game of this round Al Wahda are to travel to Dubai to face Al Nasr at Al Maktoum Stadium at 8:45pm. The hosts are in 5th spot with 22 points, two ahead of their competitors. Al Wahda's defense will be highly affected by the absence of Basheir Saeed, Essa Santo, Talal Abdullah and Omar Ali Omar along with Brazilian Bayano due to injury.