In this week 19 match, on Saturday Jan 21st, Ashdod and Hapoel Hadera will play a match in Netanya in a clash of the Ligat ha’Al. The game day is forecasted to be a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 16 degrees, which is great football weather. 7th placed Hapoel Hadera is fresh off their 2-2 draw against Ironi Kiryat Shmona. Itamar Shviro struck first for Ironi Kiryat Shmona in the 11th minute, then Alfred Stephen got the equalizer for Hapoel Hadera in the 43rd minute on a feed from Diya Lababidi . Hapoel Hadera is looking for direction having earned 11 points in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, 5th placed Ashdod, recorded a 3-0 shutout win against Maccabi Bnei Raina. Mohammad Kna’an struck first for Ashdod in the 20th minute from the penalty spot, then Naor Sabag added another in the 41st minute on a feed from David Cuperman Coifman In the end, Maccabi Bnei Raina couldn’t muster any offence and Ashdod ran away with the shutout win. Ashdod looks to improve on their recent performance, having lost 6 of their last 10.
In their last match together, Ashdod and Hapoel Hadera battled to a 1-1 draw. Harash struck first for Ashdod in the 64th minute, but Cisse got the equalizer for Hapoel Hadera in the 79th minute squeezing out at least the one point for Hapoel Hadera.
Ashdod’s most prolific scorer has been Ben Shimoni. He has netted two goals over the last 5 matches. Hapoel Hadera is lucky enough to have a few offensive weapons, with Eyal Chen and Niv Gutlib each having 2 goals in their last five.