Match Report
On paper the standings were lopsided — Al Najaf 4th with 66 points, Al Bareed 34th with 20, 46 apart. Al Bareed had been over-performing their table position on recent form: 30th in the league over the last five rounds against 34th overall. Per game in the league, Al Najaf were scoring 1.44 and conceding 0.59, Al Bareed 0.68 and 1.5, against a competition average of 1.08 goals per team per game.
Al Bareed arrived off five straight defeats. Over the last five, Al Najaf had taken 12 of 15 points to Al Bareed's 0.
The match was played at Al Najaf Stadium in Najaf (capacity 12,000).


