Extended break allows title challengers to rest, practice

Beersheba is expecting to welcome back influential Nigerian forward Anthony Nawkaeme for the showdown with Beitar after he recovered from a minor knee injury.

By ALLON SINAI
Beitar Jerusalem will have to manage without influential French defender Antoine Conte for the upcoming State Cup semifinal against Ironi Kiryat Shmona and the Premier League showdown with Hapoel Beersheba, after he was ruled out yesterday for at least two weeks with a knee injury (photo credit: DANNY MARON)
Beitar Jerusalem will have to manage without influential French defender Antoine Conte for the upcoming State Cup semifinal against Ironi Kiryat Shmona and the Premier League showdown with Hapoel Beersheba, after he was ruled out yesterday for at least two weeks with a knee injury
(photo credit: DANNY MARON)
The four challengers in the tightest Premier League title race in decades are hoping to make the most of one of the longest breaks of their season to ensure they enter the final stretch of the campaign as ready as possible.
The top flight has been on a break since last Sunday and won’t resume until next Tuesday following the international break and next Sunday’s State Cup semifinals.
The top two meet next Wednesday when leader Hapoel Beersheba hosts second-placed Beitar Jerusalem. Beersheba, which will be looking to extend its record unbeaten run at Turner Stadium to 50 matches, enters the contest with a one-point lead, with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Haifa both five points behind first place. Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Maccabi Netanya on Tuesday, with Hapoel Haifa going to Bnei Yehuda on Wednesday.
In the cup semis on Sunday, Hapoel Haifa faces Hapoel Ra’anana and Beitar plays Ironi Kiryat Shmona, with the matches to be held as a double-header at Haifa Stadium.
Beersheba is expecting to welcome back influential Nigerian forward Anthony Nawkaeme for the showdown with Beitar after he recovered from a minor knee injury.
Jerusalem is hoping striker Itay Shechter will be fit for the cup semifinal, or at least for the clash in Beersheba.
But Beitar will have to manage in both matches without French defender Antoine Conte, who was ruled out on Monday for at least two weeks with a knee injury.
Maccabi Tel Aviv, which faces Maccabi Petah Tikva in a practice game on Thursday, suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Hapoel Haifa in its most recent match. Tel Aviv has little room for error and could finally be boosted by the return of Omer Atzili next week, with the forward last playing in a game more than four months ago due to a fracture in his right foot.