The Cairo giants will be playing the game with caution, as they just suffered a whopping 5-3 loss to rivals Ahly in the previous matchday.

Ismaily, on the other hand, need to claim their first victory of the season after signing new Argentinean coach Juan Ignacio to helm the team.

“We played 25 games without losing before conceding to Ahly, which means we still need to improve our performance in the big games,” Zamalek coach Patrice Carteron told a television programme late on Wednesday.

“We conceded five goals in the last game; so, we need to rethink some matters that we are not willing to address publicly.”

“Ismaily will start the game under the leadership of a new coach; their tactics will be different from their previous games and so the match might be difficult,” Carteron said.

“We have to concentrate on securing a victory to return to our winning ways.”

Zamalek are in 5th place on the Egyptian Premier League’s table with 6 points after two victories and one defeat.

Meanwhile, Ismaily has lost all three games they have played so far, putting them at the tail-end of the league’s table with no points, prompting the team’s management to sign Argentinean coach Juan Brown to break the losing streak.

“I think the coming games will be difficult, but we are confident in our players’ ability to return to winning ways,” the Argentinean coach said.

“I don’t pay attention to the past. I am focused solely on the coming games, and we will do our best to improve the performance.”

Zamalek and Ismaily have a long history; in the 111 games the two sides squared-off in, the Whites claimed 48 victories while the Dervishes managed to only snatch 31 wins, with the remaining 32 games ending in a draw.

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