Returning straight to the derby: Maccabi Petah Tikva opens a new season
The newly promoted team will be hosted by Hapoel Petah Tikva in the Toto Cup. Maor Erlich will start in goal, and the club expects progress from Ido Cohen, Liran Hazan, and the new signings.
Maccabi Petah Tikva officially returns to the top league this evening (Saturday, 20:30). The first match awaiting them, albeit in the Toto Cup, is the Petah Tikva derby. The team enters the Premier League season with a new head coach, Ziv Arye, and a partially revamped squad following their promotion from the National League under Noam Shoham.
Following the sale of Marco Wolff to Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Maor Erlich, who saw limited action last season, will step into the goal. However, the club maintains full confidence in the 23-year-old goalkeeper, believing he is ready to handle the demands of the Premier League. In the center of the defense, new signing Bashar Abadah, who arrived from Hapoel Hadera, is expected to start alongside the new foreign player, Cypriot Pavlos Correa. Full-backs Guy Dezent and Aviv Salem, who were part of the squad last season, will retain their positions.
Ido Cohen, a homegrown talent with high expectations surrounding him, is set to step up in the Premier League as a defensive midfielder. The same applies to Liran Hazan, one of the most promising prospects in Israeli football. The 20-year-old scored ten goals last season, and there is significant curiosity regarding his ability to replicate that impact in the top flight. It is worth noting that Maccabi Petah Tikva also sold Niv Yehoshua to Hapoel Be'er Sheva, a player who was instrumental in the team's promotion campaign.
In the midfield, new foreign signing Ibrahima Sory Soumah will feature this evening. The front line will be bolstered by two new additions: British player Kyle Spence and Adar Ratner, who was acquired from Bnei Yehuda. Samuel Owusu, one of the standout performers during the promotion season, will also start. While the squad is not yet finalized for the upcoming season, the club is confident that the work put in so far will be reflected in tonight's derby.
