2020–21 Egyptian Premier League

The 2020–21 Egyptian Premier League, also known as The WE League for sponsorship purposes, will be the 62nd season of the Egyptian Premier League, the top Egyptian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1948. The season is scheduled to start in late November 2020 and is expected to conclude in June 2021. Fixtures for the 2020–21 season will be announced in early November 2020. The season was initially scheduled to start in July, but was delayed to November due to effects and consequence of the postponement of the previous season's conclusion due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt.[1]

Egyptian Premier League
Season2020–21
Dates12 December 2020 – 7 June 2021
Matches played90
Goals scored212 (2.36 per match)
Top goalscorerAhmed Samir
(6 goals)
Biggest home winAl Ahly 4–0 Al Ittihad
(28 December 2020)
Biggest away winMisr Lel Makkasa 0–4 Al Ittihad
(29 January 2021)
Highest scoringAl Ahly 4–1 El Entag El Harby
(12 January 2021)
Al Ahly 3–2 Al Mokawloon Al Arab
(21 January 2021)
ENPPI 3–2 National Bank of Egypt
(24 January 2021)
Zamalek 4–1 Misr Lel Makkasa
(28 January 2021)
El Gouna 2–3 El Entag El Harby
(2 February 2021)
ENPPI 3–2 Pyramids
(3 February 2021)
Total attendance0
2021–22 →
All statistics correct as of 3 February 2021.

Al Ahly are the defending champions, having won their 5th consecutive and 42nd overall league title in the previous season.

Teams
Locations of the 2020–21 Egyptian Premier League teams

Eighteen teams will compete in the league - the top fifteen teams from the previous season, and three teams promoted from the Egyptian Second Division.

Teams promoted to the Egyptian Premier League
On 12 October 2020, National Bank of Egypt secured promotion for the first time in their history following a 1–1 draw with Asyut Petroleum in the final round, in which they finished the season at the top of Group A with equal points with second-placed Beni Suef, but they beat them on head-to-head points.[2]

Ghazl El Mahalla became the second team to be promoted on 13 October, after spending four years in the Second Division, as they ended their season at the top of Group C, winning in the last round 2–1 against Olympic Club, thus having a two-point lead ahead of Pharco.[3]

Ceramica Cleopatra were promoted for the first time in their history on 15 October, as they finished their season at the top of Group B, following a goalless draw with Gomhoriat Shebin in the last round, thus they were one point ahead of second-placed Petrojet.[4]

Teams relegated to the Egyptian Second Division
The first club to be relegated was Tanta, who suffered an immediate return to the Egyptian Second Division following Wadi Degla's 4–1 away win against El Entag El Harby on 28 September 2020, which assured the relegation of the El Gharbia-based side. Despite having a decent start early in the previous season, Tanta's performance was progressively worsened and eventually led the club to go on a 17-game winless run and finish on bottom of the table.[5]

The second club to be relegated was FC Masr, who also suffered an immediate return to the Egyptian Second Division following a 1–1 home draw with ENPPI on 3 October 2020 that confirmed the club's relegation. The club did not enjoy a good success in their first-ever season in top flight as they managed to win only 3 matches and conceded more goals that any other club in the league.[6]

Haras El Hodoud became the last club to be relegated on 12 October, as they lost 1–2 to Zamalek in the 33rd round; thus returning to the Second Division after only two seasons in the top tier.[7]

Venues
Al Ahly Aswan Ceramica Cleopatra
Al Salam Stadium Aswan Stadium Suez Stadium
Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 27,000
ENPPI El Entag El Harby Ghazl El Mahalla
Petro Sport Stadium Al Salam Stadium Ghazl El Mahalla Stadium
Capacity: 16,000 Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 14,564
El Gouna Ismaily Al Ittihad
Khaled Bichara Stadium Ismailia Stadium Alexandria Stadium
Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 18,525 Capacity: 19,676
Al Masry Misr Lel Makkasa Al Mokawloon Al Arab
TBD[lower-alpha 1] TBD[lower-alpha 2] Osman Ahmed Osman Stadium
Capacity: TBD Capacity: TBD Capacity: 35,000
National Bank of Egypt Pyramids Smouha
TBD[lower-alpha 3] 30 June Stadium Alexandria Stadium
Capacity: TBD Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 19,676
Tala'ea El Gaish Wadi Degla Zamalek
Gehaz El Reyada Stadium Petro Sport Stadium Cairo International Stadium
Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 16,000 Capacity: 75,000
Notes
  1. Al Masry's home stadium, Al Masry Club Stadium, will be unavailable for the 2020–21 season as it's undergoing renovation, and as a result will be required to choose another stadium to be used as their home venue for the 2020–21 season.
  2. Misr Lel Makkasa's home stadium, Faiyum Stadium, did not receive approval from local authorities to host the club's home matches for the 2020–21 season yet, and as a result the club might be required to choose another stadium to be used as their home venue for this season.
  3. National Bank of Egypt's home stadium, National Bank of Egypt Stadium, did not meet the EFA requirements to host Egyptian Premier League matches, and as a result will be required to choose another stadium to be used as their home venue for the 2020–21 season.

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Al Ahly Pitso Mosimane Mohamed El Shenawy Umbro WE, SAIB Bank, Royal Dutch Shell1, Tiger Chips1, GLC Paints2
Aswan Sami El-Sheshini WE
Ceramica Haytham Shaaban
ENPPI Helmy Toulan Ramy Sabry Nike N/A
El Entag Mokhtar Mokhtar WE
Ghazl El Mahalla Khaled Eid
El Gouna Reda Shehata Orascom
Ismaily ahmed el agoz WE
Al Ittihad Hossam Hassan WE
Al Masry Ali Maher WE
El Makkassa Ehab Galal WE
Al Mokawloon Al Arab Emad El Nahhas Mahmoud Abou El Saoud Kelme N/A
National Bank Mohamed Youssef
Pyramids Rodolfo Arruabarrena Abdallah El Said Puma Swyp2
Smouha Ahmed Samy Ahmed Homos Nike WE
El Geish Tarek El Ashry WE
Wadi Degla Nikodimos Papavasiliou Wadi Degla Devoplements
Zamalek Jaime Pacheco Mahmoud Shikabala Puma SAIB
1. ^ On the back of shirt.
2. ^ On the sleeves.
  • WE, Oppo, El Kasrawy Group, SAIB Bank, EgyptAir and GLC Paints are the league's main sponsors, and their logos are printed on most teams' kits.
  • Referee kits are made by Puma.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Number of Matches Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
National Bank of Egypt Eid Maraziq Resigned 15 October 2020[8] Pre-season Mohamed Youssef 19 October 2020[9]
Pyramids Ante Čačić Sacked 1 November 2020[10] Pre-season Rodolfo Arruabarrena
Ismaily Heron Ferreira Sacked 3 Matches 21 December 2020 8th Talaat Youssef 22 December 2020
Ismaily Talaat Youssef Resigned 0 Matches 24 December 2020 8th Saafan El-Sagheer 24 December 2020
Tala'ea El Gaish Tarek El Ashry Resigned 5 Matches 2 January 2021 Abdel Hamid Bassiouny 4 January 2021
Aswan Sami El-Sheshini Sacked 6 Matches 10 January 2021 Alaa Abdelaal 10 January 2021

Foreign players

Clubs can have a maximum of four foreign players registered during the season. Clubs cannot sign foreign players unless these players have played in the first or second tier in their countries. Clubs also cannot sign any foreign goalkeepers. In addition, each club can register a player from Palestine, Syria, or the UNAF region; those players are not counted as foreign players. Also, any foreign player who holds Egyptian nationality is not considered a foreign player and will be registered as a local player. For example, Al Masry's player Mahmoud Wadi of Palestine holds both Palestinan and Egyptian nationalities, and as a result he is not registered as a foreign player.

  • Players name followed with indicates the player is playing out on loan.
  • Players name followed with § indicates the player is playing for the club on loan.
  • Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players name in ITALICS indicates the player has left the club during the mid-season transfer window.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Under contract Former players
Al Ahly Walter Bwalya Aliou Dieng Junior Ajayi Badr Benoun Ali Maâloul Geraldo

Aliou Badji
Aswan Solomon Mensah John Avire Moussa Dao
Jean-Claude Iranzi
Ceramica Kwame Bonsu Winnful Cobbina Fonsinho Maxwell Baakoh Seif Teka
ENPPI Fiston Abdul Razak Tonia Tisdell Himid Mao Ziad Boughettas
El Entag El Harby Mohamed Sanogo Vieira Abdul Wahab Hanan Mamadou Ndioko Niass Badr Mousa
Rafik Kamergi		 Aymen Trabelsi
Moussa Diawara
Ghazl El Mahalla Emmanuel Karbogi Moses Odo
El Gouna Serge Arnaud Aka Allan Kyambadde Joseph Ngwem Mohamed Lahbib Yeken Walter Bwalya
Ismaily Marouane Sahraoui Ary Papel Benson Shilongo Humam Tariq Redouane Cherifi
Fakhreddine Ben Youssef		 Piqueti
Patrick Kaddu
Ittihad Damion Lowe Emmanuel Okwi Razack Cissé Omar Midani Wilson Akakpo
Mohamed Anis Saltou
Al Masry Saïdou Simporé Austin Amutu Emeka Christian Eze Kazadi Kasengu Mohammed Saleh Muftah Taktak
Cheick Moukoro
Mahmoud Wadi
Misr El Makasa Shimelis Bekele Kevin Muhire Muftah Taktak Paulin Voavy Ahmed Marchuh
Al Mokawloon Al Arab Farouck Kabore Luis Hinestroza Maarouf Youssef
Jacob Njoku
National Bank of Egypt Mohamed Koffi Estrela Maarouf Youssef Moussa Diawara Mohamed Methnani
Pyramids Eric Traoré John Antwi Wilfried Kanon Lumala Abdu Amor Layouni
Mahmoud Wadi		 Ribamar
Hamed Hamdan
Cristian Benavente		 Keno
Azubuike Okechukwu
Smouha Rafik Kabou Eddy Ngoyi Maguette Diop Derrick Nsibambi Mohamed Al Tarhoni
Tala'ea El Gaish Franck Engonga Obame Ibrahim Kone Toni Gomes Talla N'Diaye
Wadi Degla Issahaku Yakubu Jorginho Rodney Antwi Diego Calderón Iheb Mbarki
Zamalek Hamid Ahadad Achraf Bencharki Seifeddine Jaziri Ferjani Sassi Hamza Mathlouthi Mohamed Ounajem

Results

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Zamalek 10 7 2 1 17 5 +12 23 Qualification for the Champions League
2 Al Ahly 9 6 3 0 19 4 +15 21
3 El Gouna 11 5 3 3 13 9 +4 18 Qualification for the Confederation Cup
4 Al Masry 10 4 5 1 13 5 +8 17
5 ENPPI 9 5 1 3 14 12 +2 16
6 Pyramids 11 3 6 2 14 12 +2 15
7 Smouha 10 3 6 1 12 10 +2 15
8 Ceramica Cleopatra 10 4 3 3 12 10 +2 15
9 Misr Lel Makkasa 10 4 1 5 11 17 −6 13
10 Al Ittihad 7 3 2 2 10 10 0 11
11 Tala'ea El Gaish 11 3 2 6 13 15 −2 11
12 Ghazl El Mahalla 10 2 5 3 10 13 −3 11
13 Al Mokawloon Al Arab 11 3 2 6 12 16 −4 11
14 Aswan 10 2 4 4 5 10 −5 10
15 National Bank of Egypt 11 1 6 4 9 13 −4 9
16 Ismaily 10 1 5 4 10 14 −4 8 Relegation to the Second Division
17 El Entag El Harby 10 2 2 6 11 24 −13 8
18 Wadi Degla 10 1 4 5 7 13 −6 7
Updated to match(es) played on 3 February 2021. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-Head points; 3) Head-to-Head goal difference; 4) Head-to-Head goals scored; 5) Head-to-Head away goals scored; 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored.
(Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).


Results table
Home \ Away AHL ASW CCL ENP ENT GMH GOU ISM ITH MAS MMK MOK NBE PYR SMO TGS WDG ZAM
Al Ahly — 4–1 3–0 4–0 3–1 3–2 16 Feb 28 Feb 0–0 a
Aswan — 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 11 Feb 2–1 0–0
Ceramica Cleopatra 0–2 — 2–1 17 Feb 8 Feb 3–1 0–1 2–1
ENPPI 22 Apr 0–1 2–1 — 1–1 3–2 3–2 1–2
El Entag El Harby 6 Feb 0–2 25 Feb — 17 Feb 0–3 1–0 1–1
Ghazl El Mahalla 11 Feb — 0–0 2–2 1–2 2–1 2–1
El Gouna 2–3 — 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 10 Feb 2–0
Ismaily 10 Mar 21 Feb 3–3 — a 0–1 0–0 1–1 0–2
Al Ittihad 21 Feb 1 Mar 28 Jan 12 Feb — 1–1 1–1 25 Feb
Al Masry 3–0 26 Feb 1–0 0–0 — 0–0 10 Feb 0–1
Misr Lel Makkasa 1–0 0–1 11 Feb 3–1 0–4 1–1 — 20 Feb
Al Mokawloon Al Arab 17 Feb 1–1 2–1 6 Feb — 2–0 1–2 0–2
National Bank of Egypt 0–0 3–0 6 Feb 16 Feb — 0–0 0–2 1–1
Pyramids 0–0 3–2 25 Feb 1–2 3–1 — 6 Feb 1–1 1–1
Smouha 0–0 8 Feb 1–1 22 Feb 2–2 1–1 — 0–2
Tala'ea El Gaish 3–0 1–1 1–2 1–2 1–1 12 Feb — 1–0
Wadi Degla 0–0 1–2 7 Feb 1–3 2–1 1–2 — 1 Mar
Zamalek 28 Jan 1–0 17 Feb 7 Feb 4–1 3–0 —
Updated to match(es) played on 3 February 2021. Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top scorers
As of matches played 3 February 2021
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Ahmed Samir Tala'ea El Gaish 6
2 Youssef Obama Zamalek 5
John Okoye Ebuka ENPPI
Ramadan Sobhi Pyramids
5 Amr Gamal Tala'ea El Gaish 4
Ahmed Refaat Al Masry
Mohamed Sherif Al Ahly
Achraf Bencharki Zamalek
Razack Cissé Al Ittihad
Marwan Hamdi Misr Lel Makkasa
Hossam Hassan Smouha
Shady Hussein Ceramica Cleopatra
Kahraba Al Ahly

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
Note

(H) – Home ; (A) – Away

Top assists
Rank Player Club Assists

Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean
sheets

Player
  • Most yellow cards:
  • Most red cards:

Club
  • Most yellow cards:
  • Most red cards:

Number of teams by governorate
Number of teams Governorate Team(s)
9 Cairo Al Ahly, ENPPI, El Entag El Harby, Al Mokawloon Al Arab,
National Bank of Egypt, Pyramids, Tala'ea El Gaish, Wadi Degla and Zamalek
2 Alexandria Al Ittihad and Smouha
1 Aswan Aswan
Faiyum Misr Lel Makkasa
El Gharbia Ghazl El Mahalla
Giza Ceramica Cleopatra
Ismailia Ismaily
Port Said Al Masry
Red Sea El Gouna

References
  1. "Egypt FA suspend all football activities amid COVID-19 concerns". KingFut. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  2. "Bank Al Ahly secure historic promotion to Egyptian Premier League". kingfut.com. 12 October 2020.
  3. "Ghazal El-Mahalla return to Premier League after four years". kingfut.com. 13 October 2020.
  4. "Ceramica Cleopatra promoted to Premier League for first time in their history". kingfut.com. 15 October 2020.
  5. "Tanta relegated from Egyptian Premier League". KingFut. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  6. "FC Masr relegated from Egyptian Premier League". KingFut. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  7. "Zamalek regain second place, send Haras El-Hodoud out of Premier League". Ahram online. 12 October 2020.
  8. "Bank Al Ahly head coach resigns after Premier League promotion". kingfut.com. 15 October 2020.
  9. "Bank Al Ahly appoint Mohamed Youssef as their new head coach". kingfut.com. 19 October 2020.
  10. "Pyramids FC confirm appointment of new head coach". kingfut.com. 1 November 2020.
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