2018–19 Israeli Premier League

The 2018–19 Israeli Premier League, also known as Ligat Japanika for sponsorship reasons, was the twentieth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 77th season of top-tier football in Israel. The season began on 25 August 2018 and concluded on 25 May 2019. Hapoel Be'er Sheva were the defending champions.

Israeli Premier League
Season2018–19
Dates25 August 2018 – 25 May 2019
ChampionsMaccabi Tel Aviv
RelegatedMaccabi Petah Tikva
Bnei Sakhnin
Champions LeagueMaccabi Tel Aviv
Europa LeagueMaccabi Haifa
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv
Matches played240
Goals scored599 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorerIsrael Ben Sahar
(15 goals)
Biggest home winHapoel Tel Aviv 6–0 Maccabi Petah Tikva
(3 March 2019)
Biggest away winBeitar Jerusalem 1–5 Bnei Yehuda
(27 October 2018)
Bnei Sakhnin 0–4 Hapoel Haifa
(19 January 2019)
Hapoel Hadera 0–4 Bnei Yehuda
(10 February 2019)
Highest scoringHapoel Haifa 4–4 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
(4 December 2018)
Longest winning run7 matches
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Longest unbeaten run32 matches
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Longest winless run13 matches
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Longest losing run4 matches
Maccabi Petah Tikva
Hapoel Hadera
Highest attendance29,988
Maccabi Haifa 1–3 Hapoel Haifa
(1 December 2018)
Total attendance1,430,652 [1]
Average attendance5,925

Teams

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A total of fourteen teams were competing in the league, including twelve sides from the 2017–18 season and two promoted teams from the 2017–18 Liga Leumit.

Hapoel Akko and Hapoel Ashkelon were relegated to the 2018–19 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2017–18 Israeli Premier League in the bottom two places.

Hapoel Tel Aviv were promoted as the winners of the 2017–18 Liga Leumit. This ends the team's one-year absence from the top division.

Hapoel Hadera were promoted as the Runner-ups of the 2017–18 Liga Leumit. This marked the return of Hadera to the top division after 39 years of absence.

Stadiums and locations

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Team Location Stadium Capacity
Beitar Jerusalem Jerusalem Teddy Stadium[2] 31,733
Bnei Sakhnin Sakhnin Doha Stadium[3] 8,500
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv HaMoshava Stadium,[4] Petah Tikva 11,500
F.C. Ashdod Ashdod Yud-Alef Stadium[5] 7,800
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Be'er Sheva Turner Stadium[6] 16,126
Hapoel Hadera Hadera Netanya Stadium,[7] Netanya 13,610
Hapoel Haifa Haifa Sammy Ofer Stadium[8] 30,942
Hapoel Ra'anana Ra'anana Ramat Gan Stadium,[9] Ramat Gan 13,370
Hapoel Tel Aviv Tel Aviv HaMoshava Stadium,[10] Petah Tikva 11,500
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona Stadium[11] 5,300
Maccabi Haifa Haifa Sammy Ofer Stadium[12] 30,942
Maccabi Netanya Netanya Netanya Stadium[13] 13,610
Maccabi Petah Tikva Petah Tikva HaMoshava Stadium[14] 11,500
Maccabi Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Netanya Stadium,[15] Netanya 13,610
HaMoshava Stadium Netanya Stadium Sammy Ofer Stadium
Bnei Yehuda
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Maccabi Petah Tikva
Hapoel Hadera
Maccabi Netanya
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Hapoel Haifa
Maccabi Haifa
     
Doha Stadium Kiryat Shmona Stadium Ramat Gan Stadium
Bnei Sakhnin Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Ra'anana
 
   
Teddy Stadium Turner Stadium Yud-Alef Stadium
Beitar Jerusalem Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. Ashdod
     

Personnel and sponsorship

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Team President Manager Captain Kitmaker Shirt sponsor
Beitar Jerusalem   Moshe Hogeg   Nir Klinger   Idan Vered Givova Appli Check
Bnei Sakhnin   Mohammed Abu Yunes   Amir Turgeman   Khaled Khalaila Joma Scania
Bnei Yehuda   Barak Abramov   Yossi Abukasis   Itzik Azuz Kappa HAP
F.C. Ashdod   Jacky Ben-Zaken   Avi Bohbot   Tom Ben Zaken Nike ——
Hapoel Be'er Sheva   Alona Barkat   Barak Bakhar   Maor Melikson Puma Tadiran
Hapoel Haifa   Yoav Katz   Haim Silvas   Gil Vermouth Joma BOGART
Hapoel Hadera   Oren Golan   Niso Avitan   Menashe Zalka Lotto ——
Ironi Kiryat Shmona   Izzy Sheratzky   Shimon Hadri   Eden Shamir Kappa Ituran
Hapoel Ra'anana   Asher Alon   Meni Koretski   Snir Shuker Givova ME Tel Aviv
Hapoel Tel Aviv   Itzik and Sharon Nisanov   Kobi Refua   Orel Dgani Macron Arkia
Maccabi Haifa   Ya'akov Shahar   Marco Balbul   Neta Lavi Nike Volvo
Maccabi Netanya   Eyal Segal   Slobodan Drapić   Dani Amos Lotto Kesrei Thofa
Maccabi Petah Tikva   Amos Luzon   Murad Magomedov   Naor Peser Macron Panorama North
Maccabi Tel Aviv   Mitchell Goldhar   Vladimir Ivić   Sheran Yeini —— PenguinPickUp

Foreign players

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The number of foreign players were restricted to six per team, while only five could have been registered to a game.[16]

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6
Beitar Jerusalem   Antoine Conte   Ange-Freddy Plumain   Anthony Annan   Afonso Taira   Mihai Voduț
Bnei Sakhnin   Alban Pnishi   George Akpabio   Shuaibu Ibrahim   Emmanuel Mbola
Bnei Yehuda   Ismaila Soro   Emilijus Zubas   Mavis Tchibota   Fejsal Mulić   Jakub Sylvestr   Carlos Cuéllar
F.C. Ashdod   Issoumaila Lingane   Romain Habran   Johan Martial   Leonard Owusu   Seybou Koita   Filip Knežević
Hapoel Be'er Sheva   Kevin Tapoko   Nigel Hasselbaink   John Ogu   Miguel Vítor   Erik Sabo
Hapoel Haifa   Ernestas Šetkus   Radu Gînsari   Risto Mitrevski   Gabriel Tamaș   Rasmus Sjöstedt
Hapoel Hadera   Lúcio   Nathan Oduwa   Austin Ejide   David Mateos   George Fochive
Ironi Kiryat Shmona   Valon Ahmedi   Marcus Diniz   Hadji Barry   Džiugas Bartkus   Jorge Morcillo   Levi Garcia
Hapoel Ra'anana   Ariel Ngueukam   Mirko Oremuš   Martin Zeman   Teddy Mézague   Eugene Ansah
Hapoel Tel Aviv   Marvin Peersman   Caio Alves   Claudemir   Emmanuel Boateng   Nerijus Valskis
Maccabi Haifa   Allyson   Ernest Mabouka   Georges Mandjeck   Manuel Iturra   Etiënne Reijnen   Kerim Frei
Maccabi Netanya   Jahmir Hyka   Branko Vrgoč   Tim Heubach   Fatos Bećiraj   Ali Mohamed
Maccabi Petah Tikva   Tomáš Sivok   Franck-Yves Bambock   Kpehi Didier Brossou   Armando Cooper   Issa Cissokho   Anton Bratkov
Maccabi Tel Aviv   Chikeluba Ofoedu   Jair Amador   Uroš Nikolić   Predrag Rajković   Enric Saborit

In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Beitar Jerusalem Benny Ben Zaken 1 June 2018 Pre-season Guy Luzon
Bnei Sakhnin Tal Banin Benny Ben Zaken
F.C. Ashdod Yossi Mizrahi   Blagoja Milevski
Maccabi Petah Tikva Sharon Mimer Elisha Levy
Maccabi Tel Aviv   Jordi Cruyff Left   Vladimir Ivić 1 June 2018
Beitar Jerusalem Guy Luzon Sacked 22 October 2018 13th Nir Klinger 30 October 2018
Hapoel Haifa Nir Klinger Left 25 October 2018 11th Sharon Mimer 31 October 2018
Maccabi Haifa   Fred Rutten Left 1 November 2018 8th Eli Guttman 8 November 2018
Bnei Sakhnin Benny Ben Zaken Sacked 5 November 2018 14th Amir Turgeman 18 November 2018
F.C. Ashdod   Blagoja Milevski Sacked 13 November 2018 13th Yuval Naim 23 November 2018
Hapoel Tel Aviv Kobi Refua Sacked 25 November 2018 12th Ofir Haim 26 November 2018
Maccabi Haifa Eli Guttman Retired 3 December 2018 11th Itay Mordechai (caretaker) 3 December 2018
Maccabi Haifa Itay Mordechai (caretaker) Caretaking spell over 19 December 2018 10th Marco Balbul 19 December 2018
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Haim Silvas Sacked 30 December 2018 10th Tomer Kashtan 30 December 2018
Hapoel Tel Aviv Ofir Haim Sacked 6 January 2019 12th Kobi Refua 6 January 2019
Maccabi Petah Tikva Elisha Levy Sacked 6 January 2019 9th   Murad Magomedov (caretaker) 6 January 2019
Maccabi Petah Tikva   Murad Magomedov (caretaker) Caretaking spell over 20 January 2019 9th Guy Luzon 20 January 2019
Bnei Sakhnin Benny Ben Zaken Sacked 20 January 2019 13th   Giorgi Daraselia 23 January 2019
F.C. Ashdod Yuval Naim Sacked 26 January 2019 14th Avi Bohbot 19 February 2019
Bnei Sakhnin   Giorgi Daraselia Sacked 5 March 2019 14th   Juan Carlos (caretaker) 5 March 2019
Bnei Sakhnin   Juan Carlos (caretaker) Caretaking spell over 26 March 2019 14th   Eldad Shavit 26 March 2019
Hapoel Haifa Sharon Mimer Sacked 14 April 2019 10th Haim Silvas 17 April 2019
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Tomer Kashtan Sacked 6 May 2019 12th Shimon Hadri 6 May 2019

Regular season

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Regular season table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Maccabi Tel Aviv 26 20 6 0 57 12 +45 66 Qualification for the Championship round
2 Maccabi Haifa 26 12 8 6 34 27 +7 44
3 Maccabi Netanya 26 12 7 7 34 29 +5 43
4 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 26 10 9 7 36 32 +4 39
5 Bnei Yehuda 26 10 7 9 39 25 +14 37
6 Hapoel Hadera 26 9 6 11 30 41 −11 33
7 Hapoel Haifa 26 7 11 8 42 37 +5 32 Qualification for the Relegation round
8 Hapoel Tel Aviv 26 6 13 7 26 23 +3 31
9 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 26 7 9 10 25 28 −3 30
10 Hapoel Ra'anana 26 6 12 8 20 30 −10 30
11 Beitar Jerusalem 26 7 8 11 32 37 −5 29
12 Maccabi Petah Tikva 26 6 10 10 26 40 −14 28
13 F.C. Ashdod 26 5 7 14 20 42 −22 22
14 Bnei Sakhnin 26 4 9 13 21 39 −18 21
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Matches won; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off.[17]

Regular season results

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Home \ Away BEI BnS BnY ASH HAH HBS HHA HRA HTA MNE IKS MHA MPT MTA
Beitar Jerusalem 3–2 1–5 4–1 0–1 2–3 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–2
Bnei Sakhnin 0–0 2–1 4–3 1–2 0–0 0–4 0–0 1–1 0–2 0–3 0–2 0–1 0–0
Bnei Yehuda 0–2 0–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 4–2 3–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 1–3
F.C. Ashdod 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–3 1–0 0–3 1–1 1–1 1–4 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–2
Hapoel Hadera 0–3 2–1 0–4 3–2 1–2 2–0 0–0 2–1 2–2 1–0 1–2 3–0 0–2
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 3–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–2 4–1 1–1
Hapoel Haifa 2–2 0–3 0–2 0–1 1–1 4–4 2–2 1–1 5–0 1–1 0–0 4–2 1–3
Hapoel Ra'anana 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 3–1 0–3 0–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 0–2
Hapoel Tel Aviv 0–3 2–0 3–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 6–0 1–1
Maccabi Netanya 3–1 1–1 1–3 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–2
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2–0 2–2 0–2 0–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–3 0–2 1–2
Maccabi Haifa 1–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–1 0–0 1–3 0–0 3–2 0–2 2–2 1–2 1–3
Maccabi Petah Tikva 4–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–4 0–1 1–2 1–1
Maccabi Tel Aviv 1–0 3–0 2–1 4–0 4–0 3–0 1–1 4–1 0–0 4–1 3–0 2–0 2–0
Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Source: [1]

Positions by round

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Team ╲ Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526
Maccabi Tel Aviv33112211111111111111111111
Maccabi Haifa1266991012898117910765433233332
Maccabi Netanya141314141213107677856556575644223
Hapoel Be'er Sheva69121311745544443334767775544
Bnei Yehuda111111126333323222222222422455
Hapoel Hadera41221122232334443346356666
Hapoel Haifa15588121113811101065677654567777
Hapoel Tel Aviv107767881112121313141413121212111112121111118
Ironi Kiryat Shmona71285456445557910108888888989
Hapoel Ra'anana849710111310101099118999999101010101010
Beitar Jerusalem13141310131414141314141413121111111010109998911
Maccabi Petah Tikva224334567666878810111212111112121212
F.C. Ashdod58345679111312121213141414141414141313131313
Bnei Sakhnin91010111499121498111011121313131313131414141414
Source: [citation needed]

Championship round

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Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games)

Rounds
27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th 36th
1 – 6
2 – 5
3 – 4
1 – 2
5 – 3
6 – 4
2 – 6
3 – 1
4 – 5
1 – 4
2 – 3
6 – 5
3 – 6
4 – 2
5 – 1
6 – 1
5 – 2
4 – 3
2 – 1
3 – 5
4 – 6
6 – 2
1 – 3
5 – 4
3 – 2
4 – 1
5 – 6
6 – 3
2 – 4
1 – 5

Due to 3 teams that play in the Netanya stadium qualifying to this round, and in order to insure that all the last games of this round, can be played in the same time(for purity reasons), the order of the games, has been changed. Affecting fixtures 33,35 and 36.

Rounds
33rd 34th 35th 36th
6 – 3
2 – 4
1 – 5
6 – 2
1 – 3
5 – 4
2 – 1
3 – 5
4 – 6
3 – 2
4 – 1
5 – 6

Championship round table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (C) 36 27 8 1 77 17 +60 89 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Maccabi Haifa 36 16 10 10 46 41 +5 58 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 36 15 10 11 48 46 +2 55
4 Maccabi Netanya 36 15 8 13 45 47 −2 53
5 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv 36 14 9 13 56 41 +15 51 Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round[a]
6 Hapoel Hadera 36 12 6 18 43 59 −16 42
Source: Israel Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Matches won; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off.[17]
(C) Champions
Notes:
2018–19 Israeli Premier League champions


Maccabi Tel Aviv
22nd title

Championship round results

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Home \ Away BnY HAH HBS MHA MNE MTA
Bnei Yehuda 1–2 2–3 2–2 1–1 0–2
Hapoel Hadera 2–3 1–4 2–0 1–2 0–1
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2–1 1–0 0–1 0–2 0–4
Maccabi Haifa 0–2 1–3 3–1 2–1 1–1
Maccabi Netanya 0–2 3–2 0–1 1–2 1–4
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2–3 2–0 0–0 1–0 3–0
Source: Israel Football Association
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.

Positions by round

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Team ╲ Round2627282930313233343536
Maccabi Tel Aviv11111111111
Maccabi Haifa32433322232
Hapoel Be'er Sheva24222344423
Maccabi Netanya43345433344
Bnei Yehuda55554555555
Hapoel Hadera66666666666
2018–19 UEFA Champions League First qualifying round
2018–19 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round
Source: [2]

Relegation round

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Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games)

Rounds
27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd
7 – 11
8 – 13
9 – 12
10 – 14
11 - 14
12 - 10
13 - 9
7 - 8
8 - 11
9 - 7
10 – 13
14 - 12
11 - 12
13 - 14
7 - 10
8 - 9
9 - 11
10 - 8
14 - 7
12 - 13
11 - 13
7 - 12
8 - 14
9 -10
10 - 11
14 - 9
12 - 8
13 - 7

Relegation round table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
7 Beitar Jerusalem 33 11 10 12 43 43 0 43
8 Hapoel Tel Aviv 33 9 15 9 40 30 +10 42
9 Hapoel Ra'anana 33 8 15 10 29 38 −9 39
10 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 33 9 11 13 34 35 −1 38
11 Hapoel Haifa 33 8 13 12 44 47 −3 37
12 F.C. Ashdod 33 10 7 16 34 54 −20 37
13 Maccabi Petah Tikva (R) 33 8 12 13 33 51 −18 36 Relegation to Liga Leumit
14 Bnei Sakhnin (R) 33 5 12 16 27 50 −23 27
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Matches won; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off.[17]
(R) Relegated

Relegation round results

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Home \ Away BEI BnS ASH HHA HRA HTA IKS MPT
Beitar Jerusalem 0–0 2–3 4–1
Bnei Sakhnin 1–2 0–2 1–1
F.C. Ashdod 1–2 1–0 3–2
Hapoel Haifa 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–3
Hapoel Ra'anana 1–2 2–2 1–2 2–1
Hapoel Tel Aviv 1–2 3–0 5–1 2–2
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 0–1 3–0 0–0 0–1
Maccabi Petah Tikva 0–3 1–1 0–2
Source: Israel Football Association
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.

Positions by round

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Team ╲ Round2627282930313233
Beitar Jerusalem11121197777
Hapoel Tel Aviv877781088
Hapoel Ra'anana1099129899
Ironi Kiryat Shmona911121011111210
Hapoel Haifa78881091011
F.C. Ashdod1314131313131312
Maccabi Petah Tikva1210101112121113
Bnei Sakhnin1413141414141414
Relegation to 2019–20 Liga Leumit
Source: [3]

Season statistics

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Top scorers

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Rank Scorer Club Goals
1   Ben Sahar Hapoel Be'er Sheva 15
2   Fatos Bećiraj Maccabi Netanya 13
  Lúcio Hapoel Hadera
4   Yarden Shua Bnei Yehuda / Maccabi Haifa 12
  Eliran Atar Maccabi Tel Aviv
6   Mavis Tchibota Bnei Yehuda 11
  Omer Atzili Maccabi Tel Aviv
8   Guy Melamed Hapoel Be'er Sheva / Maccabi Netanya 10
9    Nikita Rukavytsya Maccabi Haifa 9
  Ange-Freddy Plumain Hapoel Hadera / Beitar Jerusalem
  Shlomi Azulay Bnei Sakhnin
12 6 different players 3 different teams 8

Source: (Hebrew)[4]

Hat-tricks

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Player For Against Result Date Round Reference
  Matan Hozez Hapoel Haifa Bnei Sakhnin 4–0 19 January 2019 19 [5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Premier League: Season attendance" (in Hebrew). football.co.il.
  2. ^ Beitar Jerusalem venue
  3. ^ Bnei Sakhnin venue
  4. ^ Bnei Yehuda venue
  5. ^ F.C. Ashdod venue
  6. ^ Hapoel Be'er Sheva venue
  7. ^ Hapoel Hadera venue
  8. ^ Hapoel Haifa venue
  9. ^ Hapoel Ra'anana venue
  10. ^ Hapoel Tel Aviv venue
  11. ^ Ironi Kiryat Shmona venue
  12. ^ Maccabi Haifa venue
  13. ^ Maccabi Netanya venue
  14. ^ Maccabi Petah Tikva venue
  15. ^ Maccabi Tel Aviv venue
  16. ^ Tuchman, Yaniv. "Moving to six foreigners in the Premier League" (in Hebrew). Walla! Sports.
  17. ^ a b c "Ligat ha'AL 2018/2019". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
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