Maccabi Haifa Captain Omri Glazer Expected to Start in Haifa Derby

Maccabi Haifa is set to host the Haifa derby on Saturday at 20:30, with most stands expected to be filled with green-clad fans. Among the new foreign players, only Bruninho and Tsunami will be included in the squad and are likely to come on in the second half. Andrea Novakovic and Nigel Lonwijk will gradually be integrated, while injured Manuel Benson and Wail Al-Batawi will not be in the squad. Alongside Bruninho and Tsunami, the other foreign players in the squad are Cedric Don and Pedrao. Cedric Don, who recently complained of a groin sensitivity during the match against Hapoel Kfar Saba, is expected to start to demonstrate his fitness to other clubs.

Omri Glazer and Yarin Levi will return to Sammy Ofer Stadium and are expected to start, with the goalkeeper likely to wear the captain's armband. For Yair Mordechai, who joined from Ironi Kiryat Shmona, this will be his official debut in the green jersey after showing good form in preseason matches. Adam Grimberg is preferred in the forward line over veteran Guy Melamed, though Melamed is expected to enter in the second half. Iyad Khalaily, who has also impressed so far, is expected to start as the left winger.

The projected starting lineup includes Omri Glazer; Zohar Zasno, Pedrao, Noam Shtiefman, Sean Goldberg; Yarin Levi, Eitan Azulay, Yair Mordechai; Cedric Don, Iyad Khalaily, and Adam Grimberg.