Crunch AFC matches for Lekhwiya, Rayyan

After the euphoria of having won the Qatar Stars League crown, Lekhiwya will look to carry that momentum into their Asian Champions League encounter today. They take on Iran’s Esteghlal Khouzestan, who have been undefeated in their campaign so far, at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium. Lekhwiya, who themselves are unbeaten so far, can leapfrog their opponents and grab the top spot in Group B if they can register a win today.  In the three matches that Lekhwiya have played so far, they have won one and have two draws. In their previous match against Khouzestan, which took place in Ahwaz, the home team had scored an early, eighth minute goal through striker Hassan Beit Saeid. But Lekhwiya restored the parity through striker Ismail Mohamed within three minutes and that’s how the score remained till the final whistle. Though the Qatar team returned with a valuable point, Mohamed Tresor was sent off after two bookable offences and that means that the defender will miss this match today.  The other worry for Belmadi will be the absence of their main striker Yusef el-Arabi due to a shoulder injury. The Moroccan, with his 24 goals, is the top scorer this season in QSL. But the confidence of coming from a 2-1 win over Al Ahli in the QSL should boost their confidence going into this match. And the advantage of playing at home.   Esteghlal Khouzestan have enjoyed an unbeaten start to their maiden continental campaign and won their previous away encounter 1-0 against Al Jazira. If they can avoid defeat in Qatar, they will edge ever closer to round of 16.But the Iranian champions go into the fixture having not won since early March and on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Mashhad in the Iran Pro League. Rayyan looking for a repeatIn the other match involving a Qatar team, Rayyan will be looking for a repeat performance when they take on Persepolis in their Group D encounter today at the Azadi Stadium. In their previous encounter, the Qatar side has defeated their Iranian opponents 3-1.  Michael Laudrup’s Rayyan are currently top of their group, having won two matches and lost one. Persepolis, on the other hand, have notched up one in each category – win, draw and loss. When the two sides met last at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, it was the visitors who took the lead, as early as in the sixth minute. But Rayyan skipper Rodrigo Tabata equalised in the 19th minute and then Sergio Garcia scored the winner in the 88th winner. The three points from that victory had seem them climb to the top of the group.   However it will not be an easy outing for Rayyan, having lost all five of their previous visits to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Laudrup will have to do without suspended midfielder Abdulkareem Salem but will have Victor Caceres available after suspension.Rayyan drew with Al Arabi in their QSL encounter while Iran Pro League leaders Persepolis warmed up for the clash with a 2-0 victory over Paykan.Fixtures: Persepolis vs Al Rayyan   5:30pmVenue: Azadi Stadium, TehranLekhwiya vs Esteghlal Khuzestan   6:30pmVenue: Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha