8:00 PM- Haya vs Ikhlas:
Battle of Cambridge Round 2! No need to get into specifics about what happened to Haya-grey (lost 4-3 vs Shukr-red) or Ikhlas-green (lost 5-2 vs Sabr) last week, because all that matters is who is going to run Cambridge tonight? When these teams first met back on October 13th, Haya eased to a 6-2 victory. Furqan Salam (3 pts) and Salman Alvi (4 pts) were too much for Ikhlas to handle in their first matchup. Tonight’s game will be a little bit harder than last time for Haya as they will have to battle for Cambridge without Waqar Khan (see News and Rumours). We expect Ikhlas to put up more of a resistance tonight as this game is crucial in their bid to get into the playoffs. You got to think though, F.Salam (the league’s top goal scorer - 8 goals) is licking his chops at the opportunity to be ruthless and retain the Cambridge throne (Salam’s team won the championship last season) and do Ikhlas no favours for their playoff aspirations. It should be noted that Ikhlas’ late season waiver pickup Asaad Darr did not play in the first game, perhaps Darr can rescue Cambridge B one more time (see here)?
9:00 PM- Emaan vs Shukr:
The new must see team, Emaan-orange just got their second straight shutout last Friday against Yaqeen - white (5-0) and have not lost a game since September 22nd! From their perspective they have their eyes set on finishing the season first overall. For this to happen one would have to assume they need to win out their remaining games and hope Sabr-yellow manages to tie or lose in one of their two games left. As well, tonight’s contest could very well represent a first-round matchup. When these two teams first met, it was actually Shukr-red leading the game late into the second half until Idris Deen (see here) came through for his team in the clutch, resulting in a 2-2 tie. Expect Emaan to come out strong in order to send a message to Shukr. For Shukr, they are coming off a huge victory over Haya last week which all but secured their playoff birth. Now they can shift their efforts in trying to finish at least in the top three (they are currently tied with Haya for third overall, but Haya has the tie breaker with more wins), thereby avoid playing the extra wildcard game.
10:00 PM- Yaqeen vs Sabr:
What can I say about this game that isn’t apparent to everyone else? We know that Sabr is looking to finish the season first overall and besides two hiccups against Haya & Emaan, they have been dominant. As for Yaqeen it has been horrible in the manner in which their season has played out. Their offense has been non-existent, last scoring a goal three games ago against Haya (which was an empty net because Kaunain Saiyed got caught up in traffic). Defensively they have been woeful too, giving up 29 goals (2nd behind Ikhlas). In their first meeting Sabr trounced Yaqeen 6-0. Given these team’s recent performance it is hard to imagine Sabr not winning this game. For Yaqeen, they got to throw away these numbers and just come ready to fight because a loss combined with an Ikhlas wins means they won’t get an invitation to the dance.
Friday, 17 November 2017
Friday, 10 November 2017
Fall Season - Week Eight - November 10
8:00 PM- Shukr vs Haya:
We are in the home stretch of the I-Slam schedule with only three games left to go. This game is huge and will most probably seal the faith of which teams finish top three overall. Why does it matter? If your team ends up finishing either fourth or fifth, the two teams would have to face each other in a single game wild-card elimination, where the winner will only have an hour rest to recover before facing the first overall seed in another single game elimination. So having two playoffs games in one night is without a doubt a treacherous road to the finals. Speaking of playoffs, Shukr (red) was in playoff-mode last week, demolishing Ikhlas (green) 5-0. The line of, Ibrahim Hindy, Dawood Ciombar and Humza Ali showed up in a big way, accounting for four of the five goals. They have given their team the opportunity to catch Haya (grey) in the standings and move up to the third spot. Haya, last Friday showed a lot of resiliency overcoming the challenge of playing with an empty net for the first five minutes (Kaunain Sayed got caught up in traffic). Furqan Salam notched another goal last week and is making a strong push to win the goal scoring title this season. In fact, the last time these teams met up on September, 29th, he was the difference, scoring both goals in a 2-1 versus Shukr.
9:00 PM Yaqeen vs Emaan:
BOOM! Guess who the new must see team is? Sabr (yellow)? Haya (grey)? Nope and nope! Emaan handled them both in back-to-back weeks (2-1 over Haya; 2-0 over Sabr). Now Emaan finds themselves vying for first overall in the standings. Again the importance as discussed above is finishing first would mean your team faces off against a weary opponent having to play a game one-hour earlier. After dispatching two of the top teams, tonight’s game against dead last Yaqeen (white) should be a breeze right? Well you would be inclined to think so if you look at Yaqeen’s performance last week. They lost against Haya 4-1 in spite of Haya starting off the game with an empty net! However, the outcome of this game might not be as clear cut as initially thought. In their first meeting, the two teams battled tooth and nail to a 0-0 draw. In case you are wondering in that contest both sides had all of their star players present. This might be hard to believe as Yaqeen seemingly seems to get beat by the rest of the league. But perhaps this is the game, versus a team they have showed some potential against that can help turn their season around.
10:00 PM Sabr vs Ikhlas:
Sabr is reeling, losers of two out of their last three games (defeated by Haya and Emaan). With playoffs right around the corner this isn’t the time for doubt to be creeping in. The error for margin is razor thin as now Emaan is right on their heels for the battle to finish first overall. Their opponents for tonight are Ikhlas, who seemingly in theory should not pose much of a threat. This might be exactly what the doctor order because in their prior meeting Ikhlas put up little resistance (losing 5-0). It is hard to imagine Sabr not winning this game, but you never know. This is I-Slam and it’s Friday Night Lights. Ikhlas comes into this battle desperate to hang on to the final playoff spot and Sabr has been trending in the wrong direction recently. Sound the alarms? We might have the right ingredients for an upset alert to conclude Week Eight.
We are in the home stretch of the I-Slam schedule with only three games left to go. This game is huge and will most probably seal the faith of which teams finish top three overall. Why does it matter? If your team ends up finishing either fourth or fifth, the two teams would have to face each other in a single game wild-card elimination, where the winner will only have an hour rest to recover before facing the first overall seed in another single game elimination. So having two playoffs games in one night is without a doubt a treacherous road to the finals. Speaking of playoffs, Shukr (red) was in playoff-mode last week, demolishing Ikhlas (green) 5-0. The line of, Ibrahim Hindy, Dawood Ciombar and Humza Ali showed up in a big way, accounting for four of the five goals. They have given their team the opportunity to catch Haya (grey) in the standings and move up to the third spot. Haya, last Friday showed a lot of resiliency overcoming the challenge of playing with an empty net for the first five minutes (Kaunain Sayed got caught up in traffic). Furqan Salam notched another goal last week and is making a strong push to win the goal scoring title this season. In fact, the last time these teams met up on September, 29th, he was the difference, scoring both goals in a 2-1 versus Shukr.
9:00 PM Yaqeen vs Emaan:
BOOM! Guess who the new must see team is? Sabr (yellow)? Haya (grey)? Nope and nope! Emaan handled them both in back-to-back weeks (2-1 over Haya; 2-0 over Sabr). Now Emaan finds themselves vying for first overall in the standings. Again the importance as discussed above is finishing first would mean your team faces off against a weary opponent having to play a game one-hour earlier. After dispatching two of the top teams, tonight’s game against dead last Yaqeen (white) should be a breeze right? Well you would be inclined to think so if you look at Yaqeen’s performance last week. They lost against Haya 4-1 in spite of Haya starting off the game with an empty net! However, the outcome of this game might not be as clear cut as initially thought. In their first meeting, the two teams battled tooth and nail to a 0-0 draw. In case you are wondering in that contest both sides had all of their star players present. This might be hard to believe as Yaqeen seemingly seems to get beat by the rest of the league. But perhaps this is the game, versus a team they have showed some potential against that can help turn their season around.
10:00 PM Sabr vs Ikhlas:
Sabr is reeling, losers of two out of their last three games (defeated by Haya and Emaan). With playoffs right around the corner this isn’t the time for doubt to be creeping in. The error for margin is razor thin as now Emaan is right on their heels for the battle to finish first overall. Their opponents for tonight are Ikhlas, who seemingly in theory should not pose much of a threat. This might be exactly what the doctor order because in their prior meeting Ikhlas put up little resistance (losing 5-0). It is hard to imagine Sabr not winning this game, but you never know. This is I-Slam and it’s Friday Night Lights. Ikhlas comes into this battle desperate to hang on to the final playoff spot and Sabr has been trending in the wrong direction recently. Sound the alarms? We might have the right ingredients for an upset alert to conclude Week Eight.
Friday, 3 November 2017
Fall Season - Week Seven - November 3rd
8:00 PM- Haya vs Yaqeen:
What happened to Haya last week? Two weeks ago, they rose to the occasion and handled their business against Sabr. In turn, this sent a message throughout the league who the best team this season really is. Perhaps they invested so much energy and raw emotion against Sabr that they just couldn’t prepare themselves last week against a game with Emaan losing 2-1. Now they will have that uneasy feeling of knowing that Emaan was able to solve them twice this year - but this will only come into play if Haya and Emaan were to meet in the playoffs. What is of more of an immediate concern is Haya needs to be mindful of where they are in the standings. The bottom three teams, Shukr, Ikhlas and Yaqeen are only two points away from catching them in the standings. Tonight, Haya has the chance to at least put down any thoughts of Yaqeen passing them. It is an odd thing to picture (that of Yaqeen passing Haya) considering Yaqeen has only one win and they are coming off a loss in which they gave up six goals for the third time this season. With that said the tides are constantly changing in I-Slam, which is why you play the games. Perhaps it isn’t a farfetched thought as initially perceived; after all, Yaqeen’s lone win this season was against Haya. It is safe to say though that Yaqeen will have a much more difficult time repeating this feat considering Haya will field a full lineup this time around.
9:00 PM- Sabr vs Emaan:
Put some respect on our names! Despite defeating Haya last week to claim second place, Emaan still hasn’t won over Samad Hamidi’s heart. Emaan players must have seen the videos posted on our Facebook account and must be left dumbfounded as to why they are not getting the recognition they deserve. So surely a win over the top ranked team, Sabr will silence all the doubters and more importantly put them in a tie for first overall. For Sabr, last week they have moved on after suffering their first loss and went back to getting shutouts and winning games (defeated Shukr 2-0 in Week 6). You got to think, Sabr will be using this game to send a jab at Haya letting them know that, “Emaan can beat you guys [Haya], but no way they can beat us [Sabr], we will be ready on Dec 1st.” In the first meeting, Sabr defeated Emaan 3-0.
10:00 PM- Ikhlas vs Shukr:
It is obvious what’s at stake here… Both teams have four points and both teams are at the bottom of the standings. Whoever wins this game almost certainly clinches a playoff spot. The losing team will most likely have to battle Yaqeen for the last seed. Keep in mind this scenario is not written in stone and anything can happen. However, given what we have seen up to this point from the three respective teams, it is hard envisioning the end of the season not playing out like this. Ikhlas is coming off a huge 6-4 win against Yaqeen, whereas Shukr is winless in their last four contests (last week lost to Sabr). In Week 2, Shukr defeated Ikhlas 4-1. Strangely enough, this was the last time Shukr won.
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