Umm Salal travel to Al Kharaitiyat for today's match at Al Khor Stadium
Excitement is guaranteed when fifth-placed Umm Salal travel to 10th-positioned Al Kharaitiyat in the opening match of QNB Stars League’s Week 12 action at the Al Khor Stadium today. Umm Salal had won 3-1 when the teams met in the first phase. Umm Salal have 16 points, just three behind fourth-placed Al Sailiya. The Orange Fortress registered four victories in the first phase, double the number of Al Kharaitiyat, who are on nine points. Umm Salal reinforced the side by recruiting Tunisian midfielder Oussama Darragi for one-and-a-half seasons, the first signing by any Qatari club in the winter transfer period, which started on 1st January and will end on 31st January. Darragi, who was unveiled by the club at a Press conference on Tuesday, was signed as replacement for Moroccan Youssef Sekour, who parted ways with Umm Salal by mutual consent. Darragi has great credentials especially with home side Esperance, where he had two stints. He last represented Club Africain.
There were rumours that Ivorian professional Yannick Sagbo and Ismail Mahmoud would switch to Al Gharafa, but they are reportedly staying with Umm Salal. Syrian Mahmoud al-Mawas, Adel Rhaili, captain Juad Ahnash and Adel Alawi are all capable of perfectly implementing Egyptian coach Mahmoud Jaber’s strategies.
Jaber was hoping his team will make a confident start in the second half of the season. “We are excited about the start of the second phase of QNB Stars League and we are eager to make a strong start as we did in the first phase. However, we are sad that we dropped some points unnecessarily towards the end of it and went out of the top-four bracket,” Jaber said.
“We are also keen to close the gap with the top three sides Al Duhail, Al Sadd and Al Rayyan, and also displace Al Sailiya from the fourth position. During the break, we gave chances to some of our youngsters in the QSL Cup. I hope my wards are now game for the challenges in the remaining part of the season,” he added.
As always, Moroccan striker Rachid Tiberkanine leads Al Kharaitiyat’s charge. Goalkeeper Ahmed Sofyan, Anwar Diba and Sanjar Tursunov have the potential to influence the result if they play to their true potential.
Al Kharaitiyat, coached by Tunisian Ahmad al-Ajlani, would be keen to put behind their back-to-back losses to Qatar SC and Al Sadd just before the QNB Stars League went into the break in early December. A lack of consistent performance is their bane. And they have a porous defence that has conceded the most number of goals (26) among all teams. No wonder, they also have the worst goal difference (-12) along with Qatar SC.
Kharaitiyat coach al-Ajlani said: “We’ve a tough game against Umm Salal, who are a strong side and are in a good position. We are ready to give a good fight and collect full points.
“We used the long break to rectify some mistakes in our game and also to improve the overall level of our game. All players stayed focused during the break and we intensified our preparations. “At this moment, we badly need points. Nothing else matters from our point of view. We want to compensate for the lost points in the first phase.”
“We also took advantage of the break to enhance the players’ physical fitness. We suffered a lot because of injuries in the opening half of the season. We missed some players in key games.”
Fixtures
Today: 6:30pm: Al Kharaitiyat vs Umm Salal at Al Khor Stadium
Tomorrow: 4:20pm: Al Ahli vs Al Gharafa at Al Ahli Stadium; 6:30pm: Al Sailiya vs Al Arabi at Al Ahli Stadium
On Saturday: 4:20pm: Al Rayyan vs Al Khor at Al Sadd Stadium; 6:30pm: Al Sadd vs Al Markhiya at Al Sadd Stadium; Qatar SC vs Al Duhail at Qatar SC Stadium
Umm Salal had won 3-1 against Al Kharaitiyat, when the two teams met in the first phase.
