After thrashing UAE’s form team Al Jazira last week, Qatar’s Lekhwiya will be aiming to notch up their second straight Asian Champions League victory when they take on Saudi Arabia’s Al Fateh in Al Hasa today.
Al Jazira were coming off an eight-match unbeaten streak in the UAE Pro League when they ran into Lekhwiya in their Group B opener in Doha which saw the hosts claim a comprehensive 3-0 victory with Youssef al-Arabi and Youssef Msakni among the goals.
Lekhwiya, who will welcome back Spanish defender Chico Flores from suspension, will be overwhelming favourites today, having not lost in four group stage encounters with Saudi opposition.
Al Fateh, meanwhile will hope to register their first ever win in the Asian Champions League. They conceded with 10 minutes remaining against Esteghlal Khouzestan last week to go down 1-0, meaning Fethi Jebel’s team have now gone seven without a win on the continent ahead of today’s Lekhwiya tie at Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Stadium.
Meanwhile, Al Jazira go into their Group B encounter with Esteghlal Khouzestan at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi desperate to end a miserable run of form in the competition.
The Emirati side’s 3-0 reversal to Lekhwiya on Matchday One was their 10th game without a win on the continent, while their record against Iranian opposition does not read much better, having lost three and drawn one of their past four matches.
No such worries for Esteghlal Khouzestan, however, as the debutants celebrated a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al Fateh on their first ever AFC Champions League appearance as they joined Qatar’s Lekhwiya as the early pace-setters in Group B.
In Group A, Lokomotiv will look for their first points when they welcome Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates to Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent.
After suffering a 1-0 reversal to Saudi Arabia’s Al Taawoun on Matchday One, 2016 quarter-finalists Lokomotiv have now failed to score in five of their past six AFC Champions League matches and will need to break that trend if they are to have any chance of advancing to the knockout rounds for a second successive year.
Al Ahli began their continental campaign by seeing off Esteghlal of the Islamic Republic of Iran 2-1 thanks to Senegalese striker Makhete Diop’s last-minute winner, but have lost three out of their previous four group stage away games. However, Brazilian Everton Ribeiro’s solitary strike ensured a 1-0 victory over Nasaf on their last visit to the Central Asian country in 2015.
Lekhwiya vs Al Fateh fact box
•These sides are meeting for the first time; Al Fateh have never won in this competition (D2 L5).
•Al-Fateh continue to search for their first win or goal against a Qatari team after a draw and defeat to El Jaish in 2014.
•Lekhwiya are undefeated in their last four Group Stage encounters with Saudi Arabian clubs in the tournament (W2, D2), last losing such a fixture to Al-Ittihad in April 2014.
•Lekhwiya have drawn their second Group Stage fixture of each of their last four AFC Champions League campaigns, three of which have been scoreless.
•Youssef El-Arabi (two goals) & Youssef Msakni (one goals & an assist) were both directly involved in two goals for Lekhwiya in the opening matchday.
Yousef al-Arabi scored two goals for Lekhwiya against Al Jazira last week.
