On the 7th of February, in this week 21 match, Ashdod will travel to Haifa to battle Maccabi Haifa in a meeting of these two Ligat ha’Al teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 12 degrees, which is great football weather. Maccabi Haifa sits at 1st place in the tables. In their last match they recorded a 1-1 draw against Maccabi Netanya. Yuval Ashkenazi scored the first goal for Maccabi Netanya in the 52nd minute on a penalty, then Omer Atzili got the equalizer for Maccabi Haifa in the 84th minute on a feed from Mahmoud Jaber earning Maccabi Haifa at least a draw. Maccabi Haifa is on a hot streak lately, having won 8 of their last 10 matches, while in their last match, Ashdod recorded a 1-3 loss against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Kna’an struck first for Ashdod in the 37th minute, then Tal Ben Haim got the equalizer for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 56th minute on a feed from Gabi Kanikovski But fortunately they were able to complete the comaback victory in the 59th minute on a goal by Eden Shamir. Ashdod is looking for direction having earned 15 points in their last 10 matches.
Ashdod and Maccabi Haifa last played eachother at the Yud-alef Stadium on the 30th of October. Ashdod and Maccabi Haifa battled to a 2-2 draw. Cohen scored the first goal for Maccabi Haifa on an own goal in the 6th minute, then Kenny Saief tied it up for Ashdod in the 27th minute .
Kna’an has been the most prolific scorer on Ashdod in his last 5 matches with three goals. Both Dean David and Godsway Donyoh have been the hottest scorers for Maccabi Haifa in the last five each having scored 2 goals.