Hapoel Hadera
Hapoel Hadera will host Hapoel Tel Aviv tomorrow in the final game of the season, which will of course be for protocol only. This is after both teams ensured their stay in the league already last week. During the half-time breaks of the games of these two teams in the previous cycle, it still seemed that tomorrow’s battle would be a real war of survival, but as mentioned in the end the two coaches and players of the team will arrive calm and stress-free.
Hadera coach Niso Avitan, who will coach the team next season as well, is expected to make changes to the lineup tomorrow when quite a few young players will get playing minutes against the Reds.
“Fortunately, we have reached the situation we dreamed of, that tomorrow’s game will be for protocol only,” Avitan said before the game. “Of course we will try to include players, who naturally played less during the season. At the same time, every victory in the playoffs is worth money, and we will try to do everything to end a difficult season in a good way with a victory, also for the sake of the fans who will come to the last game. 100 percent of my success? The most uninteresting” , the coach added.
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Hapoel Tel Aviv’s season finale against Hadera could have been a survival battle for the Reds. However, the tie against Kiryat Shmona in the previous round, from an unfortunate own goal by Ben Shabbat, saved the Reds, who will come to this game completely calm.
Haim Silves is supposed to give minutes to those who have received less credit this season, but in any case, the coach wants to end the season with dignity and talked to the players about the importance of coming to the game serious and focused and ending the season with a victory. The suspended Antoine Conte has already left the country, while the yellowed Ben Bitton will also be absent. Sylves opened his heart yesterday at the press conference and asked to put on the table the opening figures he had in Hapoel Tel Aviv and the difficulty of surviving in the league. The club actually strengthened the coach and said: “There was one task and Chaim fulfilled it, he had no way to produce success from the point he reached, the amount of mistakes made here this year even before Sylves has not happened in other clubs in ten years.”
Sylves also praised captain Dan Einbinder on the trip, for his leadership and the record season in his career, but the midfielder is still without a contract for next season, while his agent Avi Nemani is in talks with several teams, including Hapoel Haifa. Hapoel Tel Aviv said yesterday that the captain is highly valued and that they are supposed to to sit down soon with the midfielder and his agent on a new contract, but it is not clear what the club will offer and whether the midfielder will remain on a new contract.
Trivia
* The balance in 27 meetings in the first league: 4:12 for Hapoel Tel Aviv in wins and another 11 draw results.
* In the last three confrontations, Hapoel Tel Aviv failed to find the back of the net: a 1:0 home loss in the second round last season and twice 0:0 this season.
--* Hapoel Hadera beat Hapoel Tel Aviv 1:2 in their return match to the top league, in August 2018. Since then they hosted them five more times and recorded two draws and three losses.
* Hadera achieved its first victory in the playoffs in the previous round (the last team to do so), but has not kept a clean sheet for 10 rounds in a row – since the 0:0 against Hapoel Tel Aviv in Bloomfield.
* Haim Silves recorded five losses in eight games as a coach against Hapoel Hadera. The only victory was 0:1 with Bnei Sakhnin last season and apart from that he also had a 0:0 with Hapoel Haifa in December 2020 and a zero draw with Hapoel Tel Aviv in the last meeting.
The composition of the groups
Round games:
Saturday, 16:45: Nes Ziona section – Bnei Sakhnin
Saturday, 19:00: Hapoel Hadera – Hapoel Tel Aviv (Sport3)
Saturday, 19:00: Maccabi Bnei Rayna – Hapoel Haifa
Saturday, 19:10: Ironi Kiryat Shmona – Beitar Jerusalem (Sport4)
Sunday, 20:15: Hapoel Jerusalem – MS. Ashdod (Sport4)
Monday, 20:30: Maccabi Netanya – Maccabi Haifa
Monday, 20:30: Maccabi Tel Aviv – Hapoel Beer Sheva (Sport3)
