Four-way battle to spice up title race as Pro League kicks off on Thursday

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Top teams of the UAE are lurking to launch an assault on the title in the new season of the Adnoc Pro League, which kicks off on Thursday.

Defending champions Al Jazira, Sharjah, Bani Yas and Sahabab Al Ahli are likely to be the top contenders for the title in the season.

Shabab Al Ahli and Emirates will get the ball rolling at the Emirates Stadium while newly-promoted Al Orooba will take on Al Wahda at Fujairah Stadium on the first day of the matchweek one.

In the late fixture of the opening day, Ajman will face off with Al Nasr at the Rashid Bin Saeed Stadium in Dubai.

Holders Al Jazira will begin their title defence against Al Dhafra at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium. Most of the clubs have bolstered their squads with the new signings ahead of the new season.

Al Jazira, who dominated the last season with a prolific display of courage and craftmanship, have made their intentions clear by extending the contract of coach Marcel Keizer for another two years.

Keizer, who guided the Pride of Abu Dhabi to their third top flight title, vowed to comeback stronger in the new season.

Though their embellishments need no repertoire, Keizer promised to add more tooth their attack with new signings.

Al Jazira players with trophy.

“We need some new players, because we keep the same squad maybe it is not good for the team,” Keizer had said after extending his contract with the club for another two years.

Along with the Keizer, Al Jazira also handed the star striker Ali Mabkhout a five-year extension at the club. The prolific playmaker pledged his future to the boyhood club with a deal, which will keep him there till 2026.

Mabkhout, who began his career at Al Jazira at tender age, has become the highest scorer for the club with 199 goals in 239 domestic appearances.

He is just shy of four goals from becoming the highest scorer of the Pro League, having netted 171 times in 234 league matches. With likes of Mabkhout, Serbian Milos Kosanovic and Thulani Serero, Al Jazira look favorites to retain their title.

Sharjah, who won the title in 2018-19, will look to regain the glory under the guidance of coach Abdulaziz Al Anbari.

Sharjah dominated the 2018-19 season and looked invincible in the first-half last year as they were unbeaten until the tenth round and remained on the top of the table.

However, a slump in form coupled with injures to their frontline players, derailed their campaign and they could never recover from there on as they finished the season on the fourth place, nine points adrift of champions.

Starting afresh with all their players returning to the squad and after signing Brazilian Bernard from English Premier League (EPL), Sharjah have thrown down the gauntlet for the title charge in the new season.

Bani Yas, who exuded a sublime form last season to finish second in the league, will look to recreate the same magic with an enchanting performance again.

Under the Romanian coach Daniel Isaila, a resurgent Bani Yas produced a resilient performance for their best finish ever, which also guaranteed them a spot in the Asian Champions League.

They will be a force to reckon with in the season.
Shabab Al Ahli also saw a turn-around in fortunes under the coach Mahdi Ali. They lifted three trophies under Ali since last December.

They won the Super Cup to be followed by Arabian Gulf Cup and finishing the season with the President Cup. Since Ali took over, the Dubai club exuded a remarkable turnaround and lost just three times in 31 matches. All three defeats came in continental competition.

They also went on to finish third in the league, securing a berth in the ACL. Ali’s tuning with Shabab Al Ahli is no secret. They will look to better their third-place finish by clinching the title under the talismanic coach, who has spent 15 years of career at the club as player and coach combined together. They will be one of the strongest contenders for the title.