On Saturday Oct 22nd, in week 9, Ashdod will host Beitar Jerusalem at Yud-alef Stadium in a clash of these two mismatched Ligat ha’Al teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy but warm day with daytime temperatures of 24 degrees, which should make for a nice day for football. Ashdod sits at 5th place in the tables. In their last match they recorded a 4-0 shutout win against Hapoel Haifa. Kna’an scored the first goal for Ashdod in the 38th minute on a penalty kick, then Abdul Zakaria Mugeese added another in the 1st minute of the first half’s stoppage time At the end of 90 a dissapointed Hapoel Haifa couldn’t manage to score, and Ashdod took the shutout win. Ashdod is looking for direction having 3 win and 1 losses in their last 10 matches, while 13th placed Beitar Jerusalem is fresh off their 2-0 shutout win against Ironi Kiryat Shmona. Danilo Moreno struck first for Beitar Jerusalem in the 71st minute on a feed from Yarden Shua, then Ion Nicolaescu added another in the 79th minute In the end, Ironi Kiryat Shmona couldn’t muster any offence and Beitar Jerusalem ran away with the shutout win. Beitar Jerusalem looks to improve on their recent performance, having lost 6 of their last 10.
These two teams have not yet played each other this season. Last season Ashdod won the head to head battle with 2 wins and 1 losss.
Beitar Jerusalem’s top weapon lately has been Ion Nicolaescu, who has three goals in the last five matches. Ashdod is having problems scoring lately. Their top scorers, Nenad Cvetković and Shalev Harash each only have 1 goal in their last 5.