The Red Devils who have started the season by winning six consecutive games to lead the table with maximum 18 points will be eager to extend their perfect record.
But their mission will not be easy when they go up against a 4th place Future FC team who have impressed since they were promoted to the premier league a year ago.
Last year, the rookie team, led by rising-star coach Ali Maher, finished in fifth place and are now competing in their first-ever African Confederation Cup.
Ahly coach Marcel Koller expressed his displeasure over the team’s shaky performance during the game against Ittihad of Alexandria despite a 3-0 win as the Red Devils were punished by two penalty kicks, which were squandered by the coastal side to their luck.
“The only positive thing in this game is its result,” Koller told the post-match news conference.
“We made many mistakes during the game, especially on the defence, and we have to avoid this kind of errors in the future.”
On Friday, Ahly will lose the efforts of team’s south African forward Percy Tau, who found the net twice during Ahly’s past two game, after he sustained a muscle injury during the game against Ittihad that will take five weeks to heal.
To replace Tau during the coming games, Koller will have to choose between strikers Mohamed Sherif and new-signing Shadi Hussein.
On the other hand, Future FC will be looking to earn a positive result against the Red Devils to advance in the league table.
They will regain the services of defender Mahmoud Marei but the fate of team’s striker Ahmed Atef remains unclear as he is yet to full recover from his injury.
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