Ahli's league meeting at MCDR will be the first competitive match for coach Manuel Jose and striker Emad Meteb with the Red Devils this season, and a lot is expected from both men. The Cairo side installed the Portuguese tactician for the third time after suffering a string of poor results on all fronts, having won only a couple of league games out of their last eight. Jose is likely to kick off his new adventure in style by leading Ahli to an emphatic victory over MCDR on Friday. Meteb parted company with Ahli to move to Belgian outfit Standard Liege in July before backing out of the deal shortly afterwards. The 27-year-old, who came through the youth ranks of Ahli, rejoined the club later in September. He hasn't played a single match in the first half of the season. He's looking to mark his second debut for Ahli by getting his name on the scoresheet. Team News Ahmed Fathi was omitted from the squad due to a hamstring injury while Algerian forward Amir Sayoud was included for the first time in quite a while. Holding midfielder Hossam Ashour was left out for no apparent reason.
Meteb Sherif Abdul-Fadil will be deployed as a sweeper instead of Hossam Ghaly, who's serving an automatic one-match suspension for collecting his fourth caution in the goalless draw with Zamalek. "I'm ready to be deployed as a libero, even though I haven't played any competitive games in that position so far," the ex-Ismaili player told FilGoal.com. Promising youngster Rami Hesham 'Rabiea', who was promoted during the short spell of Jose's predecessor Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Shafi 'Zizo', is also on the 17-man list. Veteran midfielder Ahmed Hassan, goalie Sherif Ekrami and striker Mohamed Fadl are still nursing respective injuries. Ahli's squad: Goalkeepers: Mahmoud Aboul-Saoud, Ahmed Adel Defenders: Wael Gomaa, Ahmed Al-Sayed, Sherif Abdul-Fadil, Rami Hesham 'Rabiea', Sayed Moawad, Hussein Ghanem Midfielders: Shehab Ahmed, Mohamed Shawki, Moataz Eno, Mohamed Barakat, Amir Sayoud, Mohamed Abou-Treika Strikers: Emad Meteb, Geddo, Osama Hosni
