DUBAI, UAE, September 21, 2026: Five matches into the 2026-27 ADNOC Pro League, the table has developed enough shape to expose which strong starts are being built on sustainable foundations and which clubs are already carrying weaknesses that could become expensive once the schedule intensifies.
Al Jazira lead with 13 points from five matches, level with defending champions Al Ain but holding the stronger goal difference. Behind them, Al Wasl and Shabab Al Ahli have 10 points, while Sharjah, Al Wahda and Ajman form a three-team group on nine.
The numbers show a league with considerably more attacking life than the table alone suggests. The first 35 matches have produced 117 goals at 3.34 per game. Al Wasl have scored 15 of them, while Al Jazira have conceded only two. At the other end of the top 10, United and Ittihad Kalba have already allowed 13 apiece.
The early picture has also changed substantially since five clubs entered Matchweek 3 with perfect records. Only Al Jazira and Al Ain remain unbeaten. Shabab Al Ahli have lost ground, Al Wahda have repaired a disastrous opening, Ajman have combined wins with defensive chaos, and promoted United have already shown they belong at this level offensively.
The official ADNOC Pro League standings provide the live table, while the league’s official statistics center tracks individual and club performance throughout the season.
| Pos. | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Jazira | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 13 | 2.60 |
| 2 | Al Ain | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 13 | 2.60 |
| 3 | Al Wasl | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 10 | 2.00 |
| 4 | Shabab Al Ahli | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 10 | 2.00 |
| 5 | Sharjah | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 9 | 1.80 |
| 6 | Al Wahda | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 9 | 1.80 |
| 7 | Ajman | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 9 | 1.80 |
| 8 | United | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 7 | 1.40 |
| 9 | Al Nasr | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 5 | 1.00 |
| 10 | Ittihad Kalba | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 4 | 0.80 |
Al Jazira: The Best Defense Has Given the Leaders Their Edge
Record: 4 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses, 11 goals scored, 2 conceded, 13 points.
Al Jazira have produced the cleanest five-match profile in the league. Their 11 goals place them among the stronger attacking teams, but the two conceded explain why they sit above another unbeaten side in Al Ain.
The opening sequence has been impressive because the results came through different types of matches. Al Jazira won 2-0 away at Hatta, repeated the score at Sharjah, swept aside Ajman 3-0 and then delivered their most significant result by winning 3-1 away to Shabab Al Ahli.
That Matchweek 4 performance changed the early title picture. Shabab scored inside the opening minutes, yet Al Jazira remained composed enough to reverse the game and leave Rashid Stadium with three points. The Sports Encounter’s Matchweek 4 analysis identified that victory as the moment Al Jazira moved from an encouraging starter to a genuine early standard-setter.
High: Defensive control. Three of their first four victories came with clean sheets. Even more importantly, opponents have rarely been allowed to turn matches into sustained exchanges. A team averaging 2.2 goals scored while conceding 0.4 per match is giving itself multiple routes to points.
Low and unmet potential: Matchweek 5 provided the first warning. Bruno de Oliveira put Al Jazira ahead against Al Nasr, but they could not turn that lead into a fifth consecutive victory. Mehdi Ghayedi equalized in the second half as Al Nasr ended Al Jazira’s perfect start with a 1-1 draw.
The concern was not the draw itself. No club will win every week. The issue was whether a game that appeared controllable could have been closed out more efficiently.
Key players: Bruno de Oliveira and Vinicius Mello have both contributed multiple league goals, while Marcus Vinicius and Malcom have added attacking threat around them. Kristjan Asllani’s long-range goal against Shabab Al Ahli showed another route to scoring when opponents protect the penalty area.
Al Jazira’s defensive personnel deserve equal credit. Eleven goals attract attention, but conceding twice across 450 league minutes is the statistical advantage separating them from every other team.
Their momentum has also continued outside the league. Al Jazira beat Al Wahda 1-0 in the opening round of the ADIB Cup on September 20, with Talisca scoring the winner.
Round 6: Al Jazira travel to Ittihad Kalba on October 18. The table suggests a favorable matchup, but Kalba have started to improve after a poor opening month. Al Jazira’s task will be to prevent the long domestic break and additional cup and continental commitments from disrupting the defensive habits that built their lead.
Al Ain: The Champions Remain Unbeaten, but Their Margin for Error Has Shrunk
Record: 4 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses, 12 goals scored, 5 conceded, 13 points.
Al Ain finished 2025-26 unbeaten, collected 68 points and became the first team in the professional era to complete an entire 26-match league campaign without defeat. Five games into their defense, nobody has beaten them yet.
That continuity is significant.
The champions opened with a 4-2 win away at Bani Yas after recovering from a difficult start, then beat Khorfakkan 2-0, Al Nasr 2-1 and Kalba 2-0. Their first dropped points arrived against Al Wasl in Matchweek 5.
High: Al Ain continue to show that they can win matches through different game states. Against Kalba, they were not territorially overwhelming. Kalba produced 17 shots and eight attempts on target, yet Abdoul Karim Traoré and Baba Bello Ilou scored while Khalid Eisa protected the clean sheet. TSE’s analysis of Al Ain’s 2-0 win in Kalba showed how efficiently the champions can punish missed opportunities.
Traoré has become one of the important early attacking contributors, while Soufian Rahimi, El Houssien Rahimi, Alejandro Romero and the surrounding creative players give Al Ain several ways to break defensive structures.
Low and unmet potential: Five goals conceded is not alarming, but it is more than double Al Jazira’s total. Al Wasl also showed that Al Ain can be pushed backward when an opponent survives their first wave.
Traoré gave the champions the lead in Matchweek 5, only for Nicolás Giménez and Mehdi Taremi to turn the game around. Valentino Lazaro eventually rescued a point in the 82nd minute as Al Ain and Al Wasl finished 2-2.
That draw revealed something important. Last season’s champions remain exceptionally difficult to beat, but opponents are finding more scoring opportunities against them than they did during some of their strongest stretches in 2025-26.
The warning became louder in the ADIB Cup on September 19. Al Ain led Al Wasl 2-0 and still lost 3-2. Cup football should not be mixed mechanically with league form, but surrendering another advantage to the same opponent is something the coaching staff will notice.
Continental form points in the other direction. Al Ain defeated Al Nassr 4-0 in AFC Champions League Elite action on September 15, showing the ceiling remains extremely high.
Round 6: Al Ain face Shabab Al Ahli at Rashid Stadium on October 17. It is the defining fixture of the next league round among the leading teams. Al Ain can protect their unbeaten start and damage a direct rival’s position. Shabab have the opportunity to pull themselves directly back toward the leaders.
Al Wasl: Fifteen Goals Have Created the League’s Most Dangerous Attack
Record: 3 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 15 goals scored, 6 conceded, 10 points.
No team has scored more league goals than Al Wasl.
Fifteen in five matches means an average of exactly three per game. Across a league that has produced 117 goals, Al Wasl alone are responsible for almost 13 percent of the total.
That output did not come from one isolated blowout. They began by beating United 5-1, followed with a 3-0 victory at Kalba and later defeated Khorfakkan 5-2. Even their Matchweek 5 draw at Al Ain produced two goals against the defending champions.
High: Attacking distribution. Nicolás Giménez and Renato Junior have both scored three league goals, while Ali Saleh, Sergio Pereira, Mehdi Taremi, Pedro Malheiro and Siaka Sidibe have all added different threats.
The advantage is tactical as much as statistical. Opponents cannot focus defensive planning on a single scorer. Al Wasl can reach goals through central combinations, wide attacks, set pieces and late arrivals into the box.
Their 5-2 response against Khorfakkan was particularly useful because it came immediately after the season’s first defeat. The broader TSE Matchweek 4 report showed how quickly Al Wasl restored attacking confidence after being shut out by Shabab Al Ahli.
Low and unmet potential: The 0-1 home defeat against Shabab remains the obvious frustration. A team capable of scoring 15 times has already experienced one match in which that attacking depth produced nothing.
The other issue is converting strong performances against direct rivals into maximum points. Al Wasl recovered from 1-0 down to lead Al Ain 2-1, only to concede Lazaro’s equalizer eight minutes from the end.
Ten points is a strong return. Their underlying attacking output suggests they may feel it could have been more.
Recent cup action strengthens that argument. Al Wasl trailed Al Ain by two goals on September 19 before completing a 3-2 comeback. Across their two meetings with the champions in a matter of days, Al Wasl have shown that they can hurt the strongest domestic side repeatedly.
The question is whether the defensive side can become as reliable as the attacking one.
Round 6: Al Wasl travel to bottom side Bani Yas on October 16. On paper, the matchup gives the league’s highest-scoring attack an opportunity to apply immediate pressure to the leaders. In practice, this is precisely the type of fixture title challengers must handle without allowing expectations to reduce concentration.
Shabab Al Ahli: A Powerful Opening Has Been Followed by Two Costly Stumbles
Record: 3 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 10 goals scored, 5 conceded, 10 points.
Shabab Al Ahli looked ready to set the early pace when they opened their season by turning a halftime deficit against Khorfakkan into a 5-1 victory.
Saeid Ezatolahi scored twice that night, while Yuri Cesar, Sardar Azmoun and Rikelme added to a five-goal second-half response. Wins over Al Dhafra and Al Wasl followed, leaving Shabab with nine points from nine.
High: Their best football has combined defensive structure with several attacking sources. The 1-0 win away to Al Wasl remains one of the more valuable results collected by any top-four club because it stopped the league’s most productive attack completely.
Ezatolahi has also given the midfield unusual scoring value. His three league goals place him among the early leading scorers, while Guilherme da Silva and Yuri Cesar have helped spread the attacking responsibility.
Low and unmet potential: Shabab have collected only one point from their last two league games.
The 3-1 home defeat to Al Jazira was especially damaging. Shabab scored almost immediately but could not manage the advantage, eventually allowing the visitors to take control.
Matchweek 5 presented a different problem. Newly promoted United led before Ezatolahi equalized, and Shabab had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
The two matches exposed opposite weaknesses. Against Al Jazira they could not protect an early lead. Against United they could not complete the comeback.
That is why 10 points feel slightly less convincing than the first three rounds suggested.
Shabab remain dangerous and began their AFC Champions League Elite campaign with a 1-0 victory in September, but the continental schedule will now add another layer to squad management.
Round 6: Al Ain visit Rashid Stadium on October 17. Shabab cannot treat the match as a normal early-season fixture. A victory would bring them back toward the unbeaten champions. A defeat would allow Al Ain to move six points clear of them after only six games.
Sharjah: Match-Winning Attack Has Been Undermined by Uneven Game Management
Record: 3 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses, 10 goals scored, 7 conceded, 9 points.
Sharjah are one of the easiest top-10 teams to misunderstand if the table is viewed without the individual matches.
Three victories from five is a productive start. Ten goals also place them among the league’s stronger attacking teams. Igor Coronado and Julimar Silva have each scored three league goals, giving Sharjah two players already sitting among the division’s early leading scorers.
Coronado’s hat-trick in the 4-3 victory over United remains one of the outstanding individual league performances of the opening month.
High: When Sharjah find rhythm in the final third, they possess enough quality to overwhelm opponents. A 3-1 opening victory over Al Dhafra and a 3-0 win at Hatta showed that they can turn favorable matches into clear scorelines.
Low and unmet potential: Their defeats have raised questions about consistency against stronger opposition. Al Jazira won 2-0 at Sharjah Stadium in Matchweek 2. Al Wahda then beat them 1-0 in Matchweek 5 through an own goal.
The Al Wahda match was particularly frustrating. Sharjah remained close throughout and goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani saved an Omar Khribin penalty, yet they could not produce the equalizer.
Seven goals conceded is manageable, but allowing United to score three while winning 4-3 showed the defensive risk created when matches become stretched.
Sharjah’s potential lies in reducing the difference between their best attacking nights and their more restrained performances. Coronado and Julimar provide enough attacking quality to keep them relevant high in the table. The supporting structure has to make sure those players are not required to solve every difficult match.
An additional warning arrived in the ADIB Cup on September 19. Sharjah went two goals ahead against Ajman and lost 3-2.
Round 6: Sharjah travel to Ajman on October 18 for an immediate rematch. That creates one of the most psychologically interesting fixtures of the round. Sharjah will have fresh evidence of how quickly Ajman can punish a team that relaxes after taking control.
Al Wahda: Three Straight Wins Have Repaired an Opening That Was Heading Toward Crisis
Record: 3 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses, 6 goals scored, 5 conceded, 9 points.
No top-10 team has changed the direction of its league season more sharply than Al Wahda.
They began by losing 3-2 at home to Ajman. A 1-0 defeat at Al Nasr followed, leaving one of the league’s major clubs without a point after two rounds.
TSE’s report on Chris Bedia’s winner for Al Nasr captured how quickly pressure was beginning to build around Al Wahda’s start.
The response has been three consecutive league victories.
Al Wahda beat Bani Yas 2-1, edged Al Dhafra 1-0 and defeated Sharjah 1-0. Nine points from the next nine available have restored their position and turned an early crisis into one of the league’s more convincing recoveries.
High: Defensive improvement. The first two matches produced five goals conceded. The next three produced none against Al Dhafra or Sharjah and only one against Bani Yas.
That change has allowed Al Wahda to win without needing large attacking totals.
Low and unmet potential: Six goals in five games is the lowest attacking output among the seven clubs currently above United. A club with Al Wahda’s ambitions cannot expect one-goal wins to carry an entire season.
The Sharjah victory illustrates both sides of the argument. Al Wahda earned another clean sheet and controlled enough of the match to protect the lead, but the winner came through an own goal and Omar Khribin later saw a penalty saved.
The attack still has room to become more decisive.
Facundo Kruspzky has already delivered an important late winner against Al Dhafra, while Brahima Diarra and other attacking pieces have contributed. The next step is increasing the volume of goals without sacrificing the defensive repair that made the three-game winning streak possible.
Al Wahda also showed resilience in continental competition by recovering from two goals down to beat Kuwait SC 3-2 in AFC Champions League Two action on September 16. Their ADIB Cup campaign then opened with a 1-0 loss to Al Jazira four days later.
Round 6: Al Wahda travel to Khorfakkan on October 18. Khorfakkan have struggled for goals and sit outside the top 10, so Al Wahda will be expected to control significant parts of the game. The larger test is whether the attack can begin matching the defense’s recent improvement.
Ajman: Nine Points Cannot Hide a Defense Living Dangerously
Record: 3 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses, 11 goals scored, 12 conceded, 9 points.
Ajman’s first five matches have produced 23 combined goals. Only United’s games have been comparably volatile among the top 10.
The entertainment has come with genuine results. Ajman won 3-2 at Al Wahda, beat Hatta 4-3 and recovered from behind to defeat Al Nasr 2-1.
Waleed Azaro has been central to that attacking success with three league goals. Lourency, Saad El Hadani and Victor Henrique have added further output, preventing opponents from focusing on one forward.
High: Ajman have demonstrated significant competitive personality. Falling behind has not automatically decided matches. The comeback at Al Nasr in Matchweek 4 was another example of a team willing to keep attacking when the game turns against them.
Low and unmet potential: Twelve goals conceded is the obvious problem.
No team sitting above Ajman has allowed more. Al Jazira exposed the gap most brutally with a 3-0 victory, but the same defensive fragility was visible even during wins. Conceding twice to Al Wahda and three times to Hatta meant Ajman repeatedly needed their attack to rescue the defense.
Matchweek 5 finally made that equation unsustainable. Kalba arrived without a league win and scored three times. Ajman responded but could not complete another comeback, losing 3-2. TSE’s analysis of Kalba’s first victory showed how Ajman’s vulnerability allowed a struggling opponent to build the decisive advantage.
There is enough attacking quality here for Ajman to stay inside the upper half for long stretches. The defense will decide whether they can remain there.
Recent cup football offered another demonstration of their mentality. Ajman trailed Sharjah by two goals on September 19 and won 3-2.
The comeback strengthens the case for their resilience. It does not remove the question of why they keep needing comebacks.
Round 6: Sharjah visit Rashid Bin Saeed Stadium on October 18. Ajman will know they can overturn Sharjah because they have just done it in the cup. Sharjah will also arrive with a very clear reason to avoid allowing another game to become open and chaotic.
United: The Promoted Side Have Scored Enough to Change the Conversation
Record: 2 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses, 12 goals scored, 13 conceded, 7 points.
United’s first top-flight month has been one of the most useful early stories for understanding the depth of the league.
The promoted club began with a brutal introduction, losing 5-1 to Al Wasl. Teams can retreat psychologically after that type of opening result.
United responded by beating Bani Yas 3-2 and Ittihad Kalba 4-1.
They then lost an extraordinary 4-3 match at Sharjah before holding Shabab Al Ahli 1-1.
High: Twelve goals in five matches. Only Al Wasl have scored more among the current top 10.
Willy Semedo has scored three, while Adeel Wgdan Alchadli, El Mehdi Maouhoub, Aniss Karimi and Shavy Babicka have all contributed multiple attacking moments.
The spread is important for a promoted side because survival becomes much harder when all scoring depends on one player.
Their willingness to attack established clubs has also made them more difficult to prepare for than a conventional newly promoted side. The 1-1 draw with Shabab was particularly revealing. United did not spend the entire evening protecting their penalty area. They took the lead and forced one of the league’s strongest clubs to chase them.
TSE’s United-Shabab analysis argued that the club’s identity may already be moving beyond a simple survival narrative.
Low and unmet potential: Thirteen goals conceded is the cost of that ambition.
United have allowed 2.6 goals per game. The 5-1 defeat against Al Wasl and 4-3 loss at Sharjah account for much of the damage, but they also show what happens when an aggressive approach loses structural balance.
The objective should not be to remove the attacking personality that has made them effective. It is to reduce the number of situations in which opponents reach the United goal too easily.
An ADIB Cup loss to Al Nasr on September 20 added another defensive reminder, with United beaten 3-1.
Round 6: United travel to Al Dhafra on October 16. This may be more informative than the glamorous games against the traditional powers. Al Dhafra sit in the lower group, making this the type of fixture where United can demonstrate whether seven early points represent a platform for mid-table security or simply a high-scoring opening burst.
Al Nasr: Competitive Against the Leaders, but Five Points Are Too Few
Record: 1 win, 2 draws, 2 losses, 6 goals scored, 7 conceded, 5 points.
Al Nasr may be the top-10 team whose performances and points total are least comfortably aligned.
They have already beaten Al Wahda, led defending champions Al Ain and drawn away with league leaders Al Jazira.
Those performances suggest more than five points.
High: Chris Bedia has supplied the clearest attacking reference point with three goals. His winner against Al Wahda gave Al Nasr their only league victory so far and demonstrated his value when chances are limited.
Mehdi Ghayedi has added another kind of threat. His second-half equalizer at Al Jazira ended the leaders’ perfect record and showed why his ability in tight spaces matters when Al Nasr need an individual action to change a game.
Al Nasr also competed strongly at Al Ain. They took the lead before eventually losing 2-1, evidence that the side is capable of making the best teams uncomfortable.
Low and unmet potential: There is a major difference between competing and collecting points.
Al Nasr have only one victory. They surrendered a lead in the 2-1 home defeat to Ajman and could not protect their advantage against Al Ain either.
That is the core issue after five matches. The team has produced enough strong passages to sit higher, but strong passages have not consistently become wins.
The 1-1 draw at Al Jazira can be interpreted as progress because it stopped a losing sequence and came against the leaders. It also leaves Al Nasr eight points behind first place after only five matches.
Recent cup action may help. Al Nasr beat United 3-1 on September 20, giving the attack a fresh result to carry into the next phase.
Round 6: Hatta visit Al Maktoum Stadium on October 17. Al Nasr have already proved they can trouble Al Ain and Al Jazira. The more urgent test is whether they can dominate an opponent from the lower end and turn superiority into three points. Failure to do so would make the five-match gap increasingly difficult to dismiss as bad luck.
Ittihad Kalba: The First Win Arrived, and Now the Hardest Test Follows
Record: 1 win, 1 draw, 3 losses, 6 goals scored, 13 conceded, 4 points.
Kalba spent four league rounds producing moments that looked better than their points total.
Matchweek 5 finally gave them a result.
Their campaign began with a 2-2 draw at Al Nasr, followed by a 3-0 home defeat to Al Wasl, a 4-1 loss at United and a 2-0 home defeat against Al Ain.
One point from four left little room for optimism in the table.
The underlying performance against Al Ain offered more encouragement. Kalba recorded 17 shots, put eight on target and shared possession evenly with the champions. They still lost because Al Ain converted first-half opportunities and goalkeeper Khalid Eisa dealt with everything Kalba sent on target.
High: The response came at Ajman. Benjamin Tetteh, Carlos Alberto and Neto scored as Kalba finally converted attacking intent into a 3-2 victory. The result mattered because it stopped the season from becoming defined by encouraging statistics and empty returns.
TSE’s full report from the Ajman victory showed that Kalba still had to survive a late response after building their advantage.
The improvement has since carried into the cup. Kalba beat Khorfakkan 2-1 on September 19, giving them consecutive wins across competitions after failing to win any of their first four league games.
Low and unmet potential: Thirteen conceded remains the second major statistic defining their season alongside four points.
Kalba have allowed three against Al Wasl, four against United and three against Ajman despite winning the latter game. Their -7 goal difference is the weakest among the current top 10.
The attacking numbers against Al Ain also identified another missed opportunity. Creating shots is useful. Kalba need the conversion rate to improve if matches are going to stop being decided by opponents who require fewer opportunities.
Key players: Tetteh’s physical presence gives Kalba a focal point, while Carlos Alberto and Neto showed at Ajman that the supporting attack can contribute decisive goals. The challenge is making those combinations repeatable rather than occasional.
Round 6: League leaders Al Jazira visit Kalba Union Stadium on October 18. It could hardly be a more demanding test of whether Kalba’s recent improvement is genuine. Al Jazira have conceded only twice in five league matches, while Kalba have conceded 13. The matchup places Kalba’s biggest weakness directly against the strongest defensive structure in the competition.
The next round will be played from October 16 to 18, with Al Dhafra hosting United, Bani Yas facing Al Wasl, Al Nasr meeting Hatta, Shabab Al Ahli hosting Al Ain, Khorfakkan welcoming Al Wahda, Ajman facing Sharjah and Ittihad Kalba hosting Al Jazira. The complete schedule is available through the official UAE Pro League fixtures center.
Five matches remain far too small a sample to settle a 26-game championship, but they are enough to identify the first meaningful differences. Al Jazira have paired scoring with the league’s best defensive record. Al Ain still carry the habits of defending champions. Al Wasl possess the most productive attack. Shabab Al Ahli remain close enough to correct two disappointing rounds immediately.
The three clubs on nine points present very different cases. Sharjah have match-winning attackers, Al Wahda have rebuilt themselves through defensive discipline and Ajman continue to trade control for goals and volatility.
Below them, United have already shown why promotion does not have to mean caution. Al Nasr need results to catch up with their performances. Kalba finally have momentum, but their next opponent will examine every weakness that produced the difficult opening month.
Round 6 therefore arrives with a useful contrast. The first five matches created the table. The next set of direct tests will begin showing which parts of it can last.