Iranian PL: Round Ten Preview

GOAL - This week all the Iranian football fans will have their eyes on Tehran where the two traditional Iranian football powers, Esteghlal and Perspolis, will meet in the 59th Tehran derby.
These two are by far the most popular football teams in the country and their rivalry goes back over 50 years. Although in recent years the power has shifted away from these two clubs, their fans still consider their meetings the most two important games of the season.

This year, Esteghlal has shown good form and going into week 10 only three points separate them from leaders Zob-Ahan. Perspolis on the other hand have been in constant turmoil all year and hope that a victory here could sever as a rallying point for the rest of the season.

Leaders Zob-Ahan, coming off an impressive victory over Ahvaz will host reigning champions Foolad who have been in great form lately. This is an important game for both teams because a victory will give Zob-Ahan an opportunity to break away from the pack while Foolad need three points to keep in touch at the top. Fortunately for Foolad no single team has yet broken away, giving them the opportunity to make up for three straight losses at the beginning of the season.

On paper Pas should not have much trouble getting three points from Rah-Ahan, but the visitors have proven to be capable of surprising stronger opponents.

Captain Ali Daei has been getting back to form for Saba, and he may prove to be the difference when they host Shamooshak. Last week against Perspolis he had an assist and a goal and could add to his tally against a weaker Shamooshak defense.

Akbar Misaghian’s days at the helm of Abu-Moslem are numbered. The rumours out of Mashad suggest that the club’s new management has been secretly interviewing candidates for the job. Anything less than a victory against Fajr would make it a lot easier for the management to get rid of the once popular coach.

Ghandi need a confidence booster after their 5:1 trashing by Zob-Ahan last week, and Bargh may be perfect opponents for that. National coach Branko Ivankovic’s older brother, Zelatko, is struggling to turn Bargh’s fortunes around. The team has only one victory in nine tries and is currently dead last with only seven points.

After a promising start Esteghlal of Ahvaz seem to be having problems on and off the field and having third place Sepahan coming to town is no consolation.

Saipa will travel to Anzali to meet Malavan who are always tough to beat at home. On the other hand Coach Bijan Zolfagharnasab has done a great job with Saipa this year and they have been steadily improving throughout the season.