Al Sadd seek a win against Muaither; Al Duhail to meet Al Shamal
AL Sadd will look to go six points clear at the top when they host relegation-threatened Muaither in the Expo Stars League at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Friday at 9.30pm.
Al Sadd are the leaders with 37 points and are seeking to return to winning ways to distance themselves from other title contenders, including second-placed Al Gharafa with 34 points. Al Sadd have failed win their last two matches after drawing with Al Gharafa and Al Arabi.
Al Sadd coach Wesam Rizik said the match against Muaither was an important one and the goal was to get back to winning ways. “I hope that the team’s performance will be better against Muaither than in the last match against Al Arabi. Every team is going through a lean patch and I hope that we will overcome it quickly, especially since everyone realises the degree of responsibility that they have – players and technical staff alike,” Rizik said on the eve of the match.
“A difficult match awaits us and three very important points that we seek to obtain, and our focus will be only on victory and thus returning to the path of victories. I am expecting a strong reaction from the players after scoring only two points in the last two matches, and this does not satisfy our ambition or the ambition of Al Sadd fans. We will be fully prepared for the next match against Muaither,” he added.
Sadd will be without some key players including – goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham, Mateus Uribe, Pedro Miguel and Guilherme Torres due to injury.
On the other hand, Muaither enter the match in 11th and penultimate place and will be desperate to climb out of relegation place. Coach Jorge Da Silva said his team will go into a tough clash with positive attitude.
“Our focus is on our next difficult match against the leaders and one of the strongest teams in the league Al Sadd at their home and in front of their fans. We will give everything we have and enter the match with all seriousness and strength to achieve a positive result,” he said.
Al Duhail to host Al Shamal
In another match, Al Duhail face Al Shamal at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium. Shamal occupy ninth place in the table, while defending champions Duhail are seventh place with 19 points, only one point ahead of their rivals.
Al Shamal, under coach Poya Asbhagi, are looking forward to score their third victory in a row. “We achieved a valuable victory over Al Markhiya in our last match in the league, which was the second victory in a row, and now a very difficult match awaits us against a strong team,” Asbhagi said at the pre-match conference.