On the 22nd of January, in this week 19 match, Maccabi Netanya and Maccabi Tel Aviv will play a match in Netanya in a clash of the Ligat ha’Al in the anticipated Petah Tikva derby. The game day is forecasted to be a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 13 degrees, which will be a great treat for players. 3rd placed Maccabi Tel Aviv is fresh off their 3-1 win against Hapoel Katamon. Dan Biton scored the first goal for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 38th minute, then in the 73rd minute, Guy Badash sent in a beautiful pass which was converted by Shemesh. With 21 points in their last 10 matches Maccabi Tel Aviv should be reasonably happy with their performance, while 7th 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 squeezing out at least the one point for Maccabi Netanya. Maccabi Netanya is looking for direction having 3 win and 3 losses in their last 10 matches.
Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Netanya last played eachother at the Winner Stadium on Sat Oct 16th. Maccabi Netanya won by a score of 4 to 2. Stipe Perica struck first for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 9th minute, then Takang tied it up for Maccabi Netanya in the 34th minute But fortunately they were able to complete the comaback in the 63rd minute on a goal by P. Guiagon.
Maccabi Netanya is having problems scoring lately. Their top scorers, Omri Gandelman and Mizrachi each only have 1 goal in their last 5. Eden Shamir has been the most prolific scorer on Maccabi Tel Aviv in his last 5 matches with two goals.