Beitar Jerusalem set for crunch championship showdown in Beersheba

Beitar Jerusalem will head down south to Beersheba on Saturday night to take on the team that it has to beat in order to win the Israel League Championship. There are no ifs, ands or buts. The yellow-and-black is two points off the top of the table, where Hapoel Beersheba currently resides, and it will need to beat the best in order to be the best.

Both teams took care of their Championship Playoff openers with 3-0 wins: Beersheba over Hapoel Petah Tikva, and Beitar knocking off a shell of Maccabi Haifa, a once-proud and committed team. Now they will go head-to-head for a third time this season, and the first of two duels in the playoffs, after the Southern Reds took the first two games, 1-0 at Teddy Stadium and 2-1 at Turner during the regular season. Beersheba has proven all season long that it deserves to be where it is right now – in first place looking down at the rest of the league.

Beitar Jerusalem coach Bar Itzhaki. (credit: YEHUDA HALICKMAN) Dan Bitton had been such a critical piece of the puzzle, with 15 goals to lead the league, but is now out injured due to a heart issue as his scoring and playmaking abilities are going to be unavailable for the final 10 matches of the campaign. However, Kings Kangwa has turned up the notch on his attacking ability and can’t stop scoring goals.

It seems that every time he has sniffed the ball this past month, it lands up in the back of the net. With 10 goals and five assists. The 27-year-old Zambian was on his way out not once but twice, when he went to the African Nations Cup and more recently due to the war with Iran, but he’s still here and not only that, he’s better than ever.