After two weeks of hiatus, and with quite a bit of noise around, Maccabi Haifa returns to itself: tomorrow (Saturday, 20:00) the Greens will host Bnei Sakhnin, with one goal in mind – to maintain a streak of nine games without a loss, and maintain a safe distance from Maccabi Tel Spring at the top of the Premier League.
This morning, the team will hold the concluding training ahead of the game, and the club is trying to ignore the background noises – and the situation of the opponent, who will arrive bruised and sick for a meeting with Sami Ofer. Barak Bachar will have two significant setbacks: Jose Rodriguez (injury) and Muhammad Abu Fani (yellows) will not play, having become bankers in midfield since the start of the season.
Therefore, the green coach will have to make changes: the new acquisition, Noble Omar, is in the lineup picture and is expected to open in the position of Charon Sherry so far, right wing. In that case, Sherry Jost will join the link-up trio and will play under Nikita Rokavica – a position he knows well, since he played in it last season under Marco Belbul.
Neta Lavie has played so far ahead of Rodriguez, but due to the absence of the Spaniard he has fallen to a more back position. Yuval Ashkenazi and Maor Levy will compete for the additional team shirt. Noble will make his debut in the green uniform, after passing control and being registered with the Football Association. Maccabi Haifa is his fourth team in Israel.
Aside from the forced changes, Bachar is not expected to make many changes to the lineup that ran before the closure. However, due to the tight schedule, every player on the roster is on standby and the message has been conveyed to the players.
It should be noted that before the game there will be a minute of silence in memory of the late Daniel Rom Shmilovich, one of the greatest players in the history of the Greens.
Estimated composition: Josh Cohen; Raz Meir, Bogdan Planich, Ofri Arad, San Menachem; Neta Lavie, Yuval Ashkenazi (Maor Levy), Charon Sheri; Noble Omar, Dolev Haziza, Nikita Rokavica.
Barak Bachar He said ahead of the meeting with Sakhnin: “I think every break is the same. It is true that in the previous break we came back less well, but the circumstances were different. I believe we did not lose too much in those two weeks. Noble? He is an excellent player, everyone knows that. “Omar is supposed to fit in. I think there are injuries in a football team. From the experience I have, there are always problems for teams, others give much more of themselves.”
Josh Cohen He added: “I would be very happy to be a player for the Israeli national team and I will work hard to get there. We were in good shape before the break and then we stopped. We are not looking at Maccabi Tel Aviv on Wednesday, but first and foremost Sakhnin.”