Esteghlal, who will be headed by Portuguese coach Ricardo Sa Pinto in the new season, are defending champions.

Malavan Bandar Anzali and Mes Kerman won promotion and replaced Fajr Sepasi and Shahr Khodro.

Iran Professional League is the highest division of professional football in the west Asian country. It is the top-level football league in Iran since its foundation in 2001.

Since 2013, the league comprises 16 teams. The winners of IPL and Hazfi Cup automatically qualify for the AFC Champions League group stages. The runners-up and the third-place teams should participate at the AFC Champions League Play-off round.

Persepolis are the most successful club with seven titles in IPL and 14 in total.

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The 31-year-old custodian passed a medical exam on Friday and officially joined the Iranian top flight club on Saturday.

The details of the contract have not been revealed.

Knett started his goalkeeping career in Hoffenheim II in 2008 and most recently played at Greek football team Panetolikos

Sepahan hired Knett as Payam Niazmand’s replacement.

Niazmand left Sepahan at the end of the last season to join Portugal’s Portimonense.

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Under the management of Ivankovic, Persepolis won seven cups in Iran football.

Now, media reports suggest that Sepahan is going to hire the Croatian coach.

“I am the head coach of the Oman national football team at the moment and committed to my contract. I am thinking of good days with Oman,” Ivankovic said.

Sepahan has reportedly negotiated with Moharram Navidkia as well.

The Isfahan-based football team is not satisfied with Amir Ghalenoei’s performance.

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One of the most historic club rivalries in Iran and Asia has become even hotter in this season. What’s more, this week’s game could have a huge say in the 2019-2020 IPL title race.

Persepolis will come into the game five points clear at the top of the table after Sepahan’s goalless draw against Machine Sazi two weeks ago. Esteghlal, meanwhile, is now eight points behind back in the fourth spot so they really need to win at this game to keep their title hopes alive.

On Saturday,
Yahya Golmohammadi’s side defeated Sanat Naft 1-0 in an impressive challenge in Abadan, thanks to a free-kick from versatile midfielder Ahmad Noorollahi. Meanwhile, Farhad Majidi’s men defeated Naft Masjed Soleyman 2-1 in Tehran.

The Reds are at their best form with seven wins in their last seven league games and nine out of nine in all competitions. Golmohammadi, head coach of Persepolis, has complete confidence in his players.

“We have a special game ahead of us. Tehran’s derby is one of the most important games and one of the greatest derbies in the world. We have very good players who have always been able to make right decisions and perform well in difficult situations and big games” Golmohammadi said.

He believes in Persepolis players’ mentality: “They have a strong mentality and they are born winners. I hope that we will see a good match from both sides on Thursday so the fans can enjoy the game.”

Esteghlal had a very poor start to their season, but they recaptured their form under their ex-coach Andrea Stramaccioni and then continued the form with his successor Farhad Majidi, the popular ex-player of the team. With Majidi on the hot seat the Blues have had three wins in a row at the AFC Champions League and IPL.

Majidi pointed to the importance of the Red-Blue derby in his press conference.

“The match against Persepolis is important to both teams and we can’t deny the game’s importance,” He said.
The head coach of Esteghlal called his team “the winning team” and he refused to talk about Persepolis’ strengths: “The winning team talks about their awesomeness and what they are going to do in the match. The losing team speaks about what they should do against their rival.”

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Gabriel Calderon has already said Perspolis has failed to pay him on time and had demanded them to meet the deadline.

The fans are worried Calderon leave their team in a row over his payment.

Persepolis will face the same fate as Esteghlal if the Argentine coach leaves the team.

Andrea Stramaccioni left Esteghlal in early December after only six months in the job, since the Iranian club were unable to handle problems related to payments “partially due to sanctions”.

Persepolis will host Nassaji on Friday in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium and Calderon and his assistants will leave Tehran on Saturday for vacation and if Persepolis fail to make payments at the correct time, they will not return to Iran.

Persepolis has won Iran Professional League over the past three years and is favorites to win the title for the fourth time in row.

The Reds also are favorites to defend their titles at Iran’s Hazfi Cup.

Persepolis will have to compete at the AFC Champions League from February and it shows they have a busy timetable.

The Iranian giants will face in such a chaotic situation if Calderon quit.

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