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After continental victories
The top trio, Pyramids, Al Ahly, and Zamalek, return to the Egyptian Football League in the middle of the week to play the seventh round matches, following their continental victories away from home.
League leaders Pyramids will be guests of Tala'ea El Gaish, while Petrol Asyut will host third-placed Zamalek on Tuesday, whereas second-placed Al Ahly will play at home against Al Qanah on Wednesday.
The trio hopes to achieve victories that seem within reach in the title race, which has looked exciting from the start of this season, before returning to continental competition for the second leg of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.
Pyramids enters the match against Tala'ea El Gaish with high morale after returning from South Sudan with a valuable 1-0 victory over Merreikh Bentiu, putting one foot in the group stage of the CAF Champions League.
The victory in South Sudan was the tenth consecutive win for Pyramids in all competitions since South African Rhulani Mokwena took charge, achieving an unprecedented record in the club's history.
Mokwena hopes to achieve his seventh league victory to maintain a perfect record and occupy the top spot alone.
For his part, Tala'ea El Gaish hopes to be the first team to succeed in stopping Pyramids this season. The team, managed by its former player Gomaa Mashhour, occupies 14th place with 7 points from six matches, having achieved two wins and a single draw against 3 defeats in their previous matches.
Restoring victories
At Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria, Petrol Asyut, which returned to the Premier League this season, hosts Zamalek, who returns to the league after succeeding in snatching a valuable victory over their hosts APR FC with a late goal in the CAF Champions League on Friday.
Gamal hopes to restore the domestic victories that were halted by the loss to traditional rivals Al Ahly by two goals in the last round, causing Zamalek to drop to third place with 13 points.
For its part, Petrol Asyut's start was not successful, as it collected only 5 points to occupy 16th place. The team, which was forced to play its matches in Alexandria due to the lack of readiness of its stadium in Asyut, hopes to achieve a surprise at the expense of Zamalek, led by former White Knight player Ahmed Abdel Maqsoud, who previously worked as an assistant coach at the "White Castle".
Al Ahly hosts its guest Al Qanah at the Cairo International Stadium on Wednesday, after the Reds overturned their deficit against Uganda's Kitara to defeat them 2-1 on Saturday at the start of their journey in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Omar El Saai and Ahmed Sayed "Zizo" scored two goals in the second half, bringing Al Ahly closer to the group stage of the tournament, which it returns to for the first time in 11 years after failing to qualify for its favorite tournament, the CAF Champions League, this season.
Al Ahly's Moroccan coach, Hussein Ammouta, is expected to return to his main squad after making 7 changes against Kitara from the lineup that defeated Zamalek in the previous round.
Ammouta hopes to continue the domestic victories to strengthen his position among the Red fans, who are still expressing concern about the team's performance, as he is only two points away from Pyramids.
For its part, Al Qanah, which returned this season to the Premier League, is performing in a balanced manner, occupying 11th place with 7 points.
The team, led by Abdel Nasser Mohamed, hopes to achieve a surprise against Al Ahly and its fans, who hope to regain the title that the team lost last season to its traditional rival, Zamalek.
The round opened yesterday with three matches: El Gouna and Smouha, ENPPI and Al Mokawloon Al Arab, and Al Masry and Abu Qir Semad.
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