In this week 18 match on Jan 17th, Bnei Sakhnin and Maccabi Netanya will play a match in Netanya in a meeting of these two closely matched Ligat ha’Al teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 12 degrees, which will be a great treat for players. 9th placed Maccabi Netanya is fresh off their 1-1 draw against Hapoel Hadera. Gustavo Marmentini scored the first goal for Hapoel Hadera in the 45th minute, but Jaber got the equalizer for Maccabi Netanya in the 88th minute earning Maccabi Netanya a comeback draw. Maccabi Netanya is looking for direction having 3 win and 3 losses in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, 5th placed Bnei Sakhnin, recorded a 2-1 win against Hapoel Katamon. Beram Kayal scored the first goal for Bnei Sakhnin in the 21st minute on a penalty, then Guy Melamed added another in the 75th minute. Bnei Sakhnin should be reasonably happy with their recent performance, earning 17 points in their last 10 matches.
On Oct 2nd, Bnei Sakhnin hosted Maccabi Netanya at the Doha Stadium in their last match together. Maccabi Netanya took the match by a score of 3 to 1. P. Guiagon scored the first goal for Maccabi Netanya in the 7th minute, then Zlatan Sehovic added another in the 12th minute.
Bnei Sakhnin’s most prolific scorer has been Beram Kayal. The Israeli midfielder has netted 2 goals over the last five matches. Gandelman and Yaniv Mizrachi are the top scorers for Maccabi Netanya in the last 5 matches, but unfortunately they only have one goal. It’s hard to imagine having success with those stats.