Seagulls In Full FlightSeagulls, Grasshoppers, & Porto, Oh My: World Football Update

It’s 11 games down, and 35 to go for the Seagulls of Brighton & Hove Albion, who still sit atop the League Championship with an almost-flawless 7 wins, 0 losses, and 4 draws to open their 2015-16 league campaign following their 2:1 win at Leeds over the weekend. While Israeli forward Tomer Hemed hasn’t scored in a few weeks, he still leads the team with 5 goals. Albion is flying high and remain four points clear of a quartet of second-place teams- Middlesborugh, Reading, Birmingham City, and Burnley. Keep flapping those wings, boys.

Seagulls, Grasshoppers, & Porto, Oh My: World Football UpdateLast Place Forever?

In Israel, whatever momentum Maccabi Haifa secured two weeks ago with their first win of the year, and their first goals of the year, against Hapoel Ra’anana went away in a hurry, as they dropped a 2:0 decision to Kiryat Shmonah over the weekend. That brings their record to a majestic 1 win, 4 losses, and 2 draws on the year, and keeps them solidly in last place until their next game against HaPoel Acco this weekend. 2 goals in 7 games is the kind of play that gets managers fired and teams relegated. Banish the thought.

Swiss AggressionSeagulls, Grasshoppers, & Porto, Oh My: World Football Update

Over in Switzerland, Nazareth-born Israeli striker Moanes Dabour is taking the Swiss Super League by storm, scoring 8 goals and notching 8 assists in the first 12 games for Grasshoppers. After not transferring to Palermo over the summer despite his 18 goals in 35 games last year, you can be sure he attracting some serious transfer attention now. The 7-3-2 Grasshoppers, who play in Zurich, are currently in second place, 7 points behind Basel.

Seagulls, Grasshoppers, & Porto, Oh My: World Football UpdateGoal-Hunting In Porto

Tomorrow in Portugal, Maccabi Tel Aviv takes the pitch against Porto in their third game of Champions League play. The Israeli champions have hardly dazzled thus far, losing their first two games to Chelsea and Dynamo Kiev and being outscored 6-0, and will be looking to change their momentum and notch their first goal(s) of the competition. It’s going to be a tall order for Maccabi, as Porto have won 19 consecutive home games, and the oddsmakers agree—only Astana, playing at Atletico Madrid, is a bigger underdog on Matchday 3 than Maccabi is at Porto. But in the misery-loves-company department, at least FC Malmo and Shakhtar Donetsk are also 0-0-2 in group play and haven’t scored any goals yet, either. Good luck, try hard, and please score a goal.

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