Al-Ahly to restore confidence.. and Zamalek faces Ghazl El-Mahalla

The competition will pause after the fifth round to make way for the Egyptian national team, which begins its journey in the qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

It will face Angola in Cairo on September 25, then visit South Sudan four days later in Group B, before playing a friendly match against South Africa in Cairo on October 4.

Al-Ahly seeks to return to winning ways against Abu Qir Fertilizers, after Al Mokawloon Al Arab forced a 1-1 draw in the last round, which caused a state of tension among the fans of the Red team, which dropped to third place.

Al-Ahly fans have been living in a state of anxiety since finishing last season in third place and missing out on participating in the CAF Champions League this season for the first time since 2003.

The fans also expressed their dissatisfaction with the team's performance in the league this season, despite winning its first three matches under the leadership of Moroccan coach Hussein Ammouta.

Ammouta said after the Al Mokawloon Al Arab match, "We all bear responsibility for the result, not any one individual. We made many mistakes and we must address them to correct things before the international break."

Al-Ahly's losses were not limited to results, as the team lost its two center-backs, Amr El-Gazzar, who suffered a torn knee ligament, and Yasser Ibrahim, who suffered a sprained ankle, in addition to left-back Ahmed Nabil (Koka), who suffered a hamstring strain.

For its part, the newcomer Abu Qir Fertilizers hopes to exploit Al-Ahly's stumble to achieve a positive result, after winning its first match and then suffering 3 consecutive defeats to sit in sixteenth place (3 points).

Zamalek confident

For its part, Zamalek enters the match against Ghazl El-Mahalla in a state of confidence after the White team succeeded in achieving 3 consecutive victories. It also defeated Djibouti's Port 6-1 on aggregate to reach the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League, which brought a state of calm to coach Moatamed Gamal and the Zamalek fans.

Despite the state of anxiety that gripped Zamalek fans before the start of the season due to the club being banned from registration for disciplinary reasons, the departure of defender Hossam Abdel Majeed, and the rebellion of Brazilian winger Juan Bezerra who refused to return to the team, the start of the season was good in terms of results, despite the White fans' reservations about the performance so far.

Moatamed Gamal said, "We are facing very difficult circumstances, and I am forced to make changes for many reasons, which affects the team. The good thing is that we are achieving victory after victory, and I thank the players who endured the difficulties and are giving their all."

As for Ghazl El-Mahalla, it sits at the bottom of the standings with only one point from its first four matches, which prompted the club's management to dismiss the technical staff led by Ahmed Khattab and appoint former Zamalek player and coach Khaled Galal as technical director, to begin his journey against his old club.

Pyramids to continue its brilliance

Pyramids hopes to continue its perfect start by achieving a fifth consecutive victory when it visits Sharqia Enppi at the Peace Stadium in Cairo on Thursday.

Pyramids began its league journey with its new South African coach, Rhulani Mokwena, by achieving 4 consecutive victories to top the standings with a perfect score, without conceding any goals.

It also succeeded in passing the first preliminary round of the CAF Champions League by defeating Kenya's Gor Mahia home and away with a 7-1 aggregate score.

Mokwena said, "Our goal is to win the league title for the first time in Pyramids' history, but we are still at the beginning of the season and we realize the difficulty of the competition with big clubs, especially Al-Ahly and Zamalek. We take each match one by one, and our focus now is on achieving another victory before the international break."

For its part, Sharqia Enppi occupies 14th place, and its coach Mohamed Barakat seeks to achieve a positive result against Pyramids, taking advantage of the morale boost after achieving its first victory in the competition in the last round against ZED.