George Dibah is set to return to the heart of Hapoel Haifa's defence when Chaim Silbes's side take on Ironi Tiberias in round two of the Toto Cup on Tuesday, with the coach using the low-stakes fixture to freshen up a squad that is only two days removed from a derby win over Maccabi Haifa.
ONE reports that Dibah will come back into the centre of the back line in place of the Croatian defender Dario Zuparic, while Sally Pahima is pencilled in to open as the link player just behind Yoad Gonen, who leads the line as the out-and-out striker.
Dor Malul, the 37-year-old captain, continues at right-back, with Noam Cohen filling in on the left side of the back four as Silbes spreads minutes around a squad still shaking off the effects of Sunday's derby.
"We're playing Tiberias tomorrow in the Toto Cup, and it's an important part of our preparation," Silbes said, according to the source, making clear he intends to rotate broadly and manage his players' workload rather than field a full-strength XI.
Itai Zafrani, the 19-year-old forward on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv since the summer, remains sidelined through injury and will again miss out.
The rotation comes on the back of a thrilling 3-2 win over Maccabi Haifa in the Haifa derby that opened the 2026/27 Toto Cup. Gonen struck the opener, Noam Steitman turned the ball into his own net for Hapoel's second, and Alon Torgeman curled in a free-kick to make it 3-0 before Maccabi rallied late to make the scoreline respectable.
Tiberias arrive at the fixture in form of their own. Ironi Tiberias came from behind to beat Bnei Sakhnin 2-1 in their opening match, with Iyad Abu Abeid's 37th-minute strike cancelled out by Ron Unger before Mansour Badji completed the turnaround two minutes later.
Now in its 42nd edition, the Toto Cup remains Israeli football's third-ranked domestic competition, and while the destination of the trophy is not Silbes's priority this week, the minutes and match sharpness on offer make it a useful staging post before the league season resumes in earnest.
