Wihdat play Jazira as final standings take shape

AMMAN — Wihdat face Jazira as Week 20 of the 63rd Jordan Professional League kicks off on Thursday.

The titleholders now have a commanding nine point lead as they head into the final weeks of the competition after they beat rivals Faisali 3-0 last week. It was their 77th match — Wihdat having won 28 and Faisali 26 times. Wihdat won the Leg 1 match 2-0.

Jazira jumped to second after they beat That Ras 1-0. Ramtha are one point behind after they lost 1-0 to Baqaa and next play Faisali.

Ahli are up to fifth after they beat Manshieh 1-0 and will next play Shabab Urdun, who are 10th after they beat Sarih 2-0.

Hussein held Ittihad Ramtha 1-1 and are now 7th and next play former Jordan Cup champs That Ras. 

Faisali are now 8th, suffering their worst season since the League kicked off in 1944. Baqaa, a usual top five finisher, are now 9th while former champs Shabab Urdun have also disappointed fans at the lower end of the standings. Ittihad Ramtha has been relegated after no wins, while the second team facing relegation is still undecided putting a lot of pressure on teams from 9-11 places.

Ramtha’s Rakan Khalidi leads the scorers with nine goals while Wihdat’s Mahmoud Zaatara has seven.

Wihdat won the first competition of the 2014/15 season after they beat Baqaa 2-0 in the 32nd Super Cup. The Jordan Cup semis will now be played after the League ends as Faisali play Wihdat and Ramtha face That Ras in the semis. 

Last season, Wihdat won the League for the 13th time. They beat Baqaa to win the Jordan Cup while Shabab Urdun beat That Ras to win the 31st Super Cup. The Jordan Football Association Shield was not held.