At the conclusion of the first day of the thirty-fifth round of the Iraqi Stars League for the 2024-2025 season, all eyes are on the city of Duhok, where Duhok team hosts its guest from the Middle Euphrates, Najaf Club, in a match held at the Duhok International Stadium on the evening of Friday, June 13, at 8:30 PM, amidst varying public expectations and internal pressures reflecting what both teams have gone through this season.

Duhok team started the season with a bang and was one of the top contenders to appear in the golden square, and later crowned with the Gulf Champions League title in a historic achievement that raised the aspirations within the club.

Under the leadership of former Swedish coach Masoud Miral, the start was successful; however, following the Gulf victory, the team entered a phase of "sudden decline," accompanied by a drop in performance and a series of negative results, along with administrative and disciplinary issues that ended with the decision to dismiss the coach and impose sanctions on him by the Iraqi Football Association.

Currently, the team is trying to reorganize under the guidance of new Swedish coach Amir Azarshfan, who began his mission amidst significant uncertainty, in an attempt to end the season with minimal losses and reconcile with the fans, after the dream of competing for the title initially became realistic.

The team is currently in sixth place with 52 points, having several postponed matches that they will try to perform well in.

On the other hand, Najaf Club is seeking to provide a stable end to a season that has seen many changes and fluctuations in performance, as the team occupies the 14th place with 41 points, a position that is not catastrophic but does not reflect the aspirations or the quality of the names in the lineup.

One of the team's standout stars this season is the international player Mohammed Qassem, who has represented experience and decisiveness on several occasions. Najaf is characterized by having distinguished players in the midfield and attack, but it suffers from a lack of defensive focus and instability at the coaching and tactical levels.

The team enters the match against Duhok knowing the difficulty of the task away from home, but it will attempt to exploit the turmoil that the host team is going through.

Recent statistics indicate a clear advantage for Duhok team in the last 4 direct confrontations, where they achieved 3 victories against a single draw, which gives them relative confidence, especially since they are playing at home and among their fans.