Urban Kiryat Shmona
Although they almost certainly secured a place in the league, Slobodan Drapic asked Kiryat Shmona players not to take a foot off the gas and made it clear to them this week that they are also playing for their personal future and for a contract next season.
The coach is expected to give more minutes during the lower playoffs to young players such as Or Hussein and Ariel Shretzky. The suspended Ziv Morgan will be absent once again. “For us, this is a normal game for everything,” said striker Itamar Shabiru. “We’ll get to a modest game.”
Estimated composition: Zygos Bartakus, Guy Mizrahi, Eid Habashi, Itai Ben Shabbat, Nir Drori, Ariel Shretzky, Roi Kehat, Yadin Lugsi, Morgan Freier, Muhammad Shachar, Itamar Shabiru.
Trivia
* Balance of games between the teams in the Premier League: 11:14 to Maccabi Petah Tikva in victories, and eight more draws.
* A draw in Kiryat Shmona has not been between the two since the 0-0 draw in October 2013. In the meetings since then, there have been five victories for the host compared to four for Maccabi Petah Tikva.
* Urbani Kiryat Shmona has lost only once in its last eight home games.
* Maccabi Petah Tikva was without away victories until the end of February, but then recorded two consecutive victories as a guest with two quartets. Three consecutive away wins? She has not done that in the Premier League since the middle of the 2016/17 season, so the streak extended to five and also included 0: 1 in Kiryat Shmona.
27th round games:
Saturday, 15:00: Maccabi Tel Aviv – Bnei Sakhnin (Sport 4)
Saturday, 6:30 p.m .: M.S. Ashdod – Hapoel Nof Hagalil
Saturday, 19:00: Hapoel Beer Sheva – Maccabi Netanya (Sports 4)
Saturday, 20:00: Maccabi Haifa – Hapoel Tel Aviv
Sunday, 19:00: Kiryat Shmona – Maccabi Petah Tikva
Sunday, 20:15: Hapoel Haifa – Betar Jerusalem (Sports 4)
Monday, 20:00: Hapoel Hadera – Hapoel Jerusalem (Sport1)