(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fawad Hussain |
The Peninsula
Title contenders Al Sadd will host Al Shamal targeting a victory at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium to regain their top place in the expo Stars League (ESL) standings.
With the Wolves and defending champions Al Duhail shifting focus back to the Qatar top flight after their AFC Champions League (ACL) games, the weekend is expected to bring changes at the top of points table, led by Al Gharafa with 22 points.
Today, Al Sadd, who are on 19 points and have two postponed games remaining, can return to the summit on superior goal difference over Al Gharafa, who will play Al Wakrah tomorrow.
After a winning start as Al Sadd coach last week, Wesam Rizik's first goal in the ESL is to lead his side back to the top with Al Shamal being his first target.
Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier with striker Michael Olunga during a training session.
“It's an important match for us and our goal is to return to the top again. All our focus is currently on the match against Al Shamal and I hope that the team will be ready and all players are fully prepared,” said Rizik, who guided Al Sadd to a 2-0 win over ACL opponents Sharjah in his first match as Wolves coach on Monday.
The coach, however, said Al Shamal pose a different challenge to his ranks.
“The recent victory in the AFC Champions League against Sharjah FC gave us a great morale boost to continue in the same way. We are playing a match in a separate competition and we must work as one team to achieve victory,” he said.
With two wins and three draws, Al Shamal are in eighth place, tied with seventh-placed Al Arabi and Al Ahli (ninth) on goal difference.
Their coach Poya Asbaghi was aware of the task his men face against the title favourites.
“Facing Al Sadd will certainly not be easy. But we are looking forward to providing a good performance and achieve a positive result,” he said.
“Our players are ready to give a good show and I have confidence in their abilities to provide what is required and always achieve the best for Al Shamal club,” Asbaghi added.
Ranked fourth in the table with 16 points, Al Duhail, who also have two games in hands, will completely focus on the domestic competitions in the remaining season after crashing out of the ACL in group stage on Monday.
They will host Umm Salal at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium today seeking a win to jump up in the standings.
“We will play our league match against Umm Salal after our AFC match and our players need recovery, but we will prepare the team for this game in the required manner,” Al Duhail coach Christophe Galtier said yesterday.
“I watched the last match between Umm Salal and Al Gharafa to analyse it and find out their strengths. If we want to improve our ranking, we must score points in this match,” he added.
Umm Salal are currently placed sixth with 11 points.
Meanwhile, the other match today will pit Al Arabi and bottom-placed Al Markhiya at Grand Hamad Stadium.
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