Jazira maintain lead; Wihdat play Faisali Friday

AMMAN — Week 6 of the Jordan Professional Football League is scheduled to kick off Thursday with Jazira still in the lead and all-time rivals Wihdat and Faisali playing Friday.

It will be the 79th time Wihdat play Faisali with Wihdat having won 28 times, Faisali winning 27 times and 23 draws since 1976. 

The past week saw Jazira score another convincing win 4-1 over Baqa'a to maintain a 4-point lead ahead of their upcoming match with 8th placed Sahab.

Wihdat jumped to second place after a vital 2-1 win over Ahli. Faisali also went up two spots to third after a 1-0 win over former champs Shabab Urdun.

Manshieh beat Sarih 1-0 to move up to fourth, and next play seventh placed Hussein. 

Shabab Urdun are fifth and next play That Ras who were held 0-0 by Sahab while Ahli next play 9th placed Sarih. Hussein, who held Ramtha 0-0, play Manshieh, while Ramtha play Baqa'a, who dropped to last. 

Jazira have so far scored three convincing wins over former champions Faisali, Wihdat and Shabab Urdun. Their striker Syrian Mardig Mardigian is league top scorer with four goals. 

This season, Ahli won the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar. They made history when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup.  In the Jordan Football Association Shield — back on the calendar after four years — Shabab Urdun scored a major 5-1 win over Faisali. It was Shabab Urdun's second Shield title after they first won in 2007.

Last season, Wihdat retained the title with Faisali, Ahli, Jazira and Shabab Urdun in top five spots. It was Wihdat's third consecutive and 15th league title since they moved up to the Professional League in 1975. Faisali beat Wihdat to clinch the Super Cup while it was Ahli, who after years in the backstage, beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final.

Standings  

(Last week's rankings in parenthesis)