Al Arabi take on Qatar SC, Umm Salal face Al Ahli

Havinglost both their matches in the QNB Stars League this season, Al Arabiwill be looking to bounce back when they host Qatar SC today. Al Arabi’snew head coach Kais Yaakoubi hoped his team can turn the tide and getfirst points on board. “After our defeat to Al Duhail, the team needs tostart turning things around. We hope the game against Qatar SC will beour gate into winning ways,” said Yaakoubi“We have a very healthyatmosphere in the changing room and the training ground. We are workinghard and you will see the team’s real face in the next game,” said theTunisian, when asked about the squad’s morale ahead of the game.  “Welooked at Qatar SC last two games and the team played very well and werespect our opponent. I believe the both teams are at the same level andI hope we can take all three points,” he added.After getting theirfirst win in the last week against Al Markhiya, Qatar SC head coachGabriel Calderon says it is important to build on from their resultslast week. “Every match is difficult. Al Arabi need to get their firstwin and we need to keep winning as well. It’s a difficult game for bothteams,” the Argentine said.About his team’s recent performance,Calderon said: “In football everything is possible. We always look toimprove and we had a bit of luck in the last game and hope we canimprove and get more good results.” Calderon spoke about his firstimpression of the league.“The league is very similar to every league inthe world. You have two or three good teams because of the high profileplayers they have, however, the rest of the teams are at the samelevel,” said Calderon.In another match, Al Ahli will be aiming fortheir first win of the season, when they take on Umm Salal. TheBrigadiers Spanish coach Joaquin Caparros said the team has be workinghard in training. “We have one point from two games, all the playershave been working hard in the training ground and we’ll be looking toget our first win against Umm Salal,” he said.Ahli are hampered byinjuries to number of players. “We have a number of injuries. I will bespeaking to the team doctor and see which players we will be availableahead of the game against Umm Salal,” Caparros said. Caparrosrevealed his ambition in the league and some of the club’s long termplans. “To be one of the top four, you need to have a full squad withoutinjuries. We are working hard to build a team and are working with themanagement of the club to have a team that can compete at the level wewant,” he said.Meanwhile, Umm Salal will be looking to continuetheir impressive start to the season. The Orange Fortress head coachMahmoud Jaber expected Ahli to be a tough opponent. The Egyptiansaid: “We are ready for the game. We had a day break after the last gameand resumed our training. The game is a difficult one and we hope wecan get good results before the break.”“The team is very ambitious,we had a good season last year and we are looking to improve on that andhopefully this year we can achieve a lot. The club is very stable. Wefeel like a family and the relationship between the management and theplayers is very healthy.”  Jaber spoke about how close the leaguethis year will be. “The League is very hard this year. All the teams arelooking impressive. I have watched most of the games and everyone isperforming at a similar level regardless of the results,” he said.FixturesToday: Al Arabi vs Qatar SC at Al Arabi Stadium at 5:45pm; Al Ahli vs Umm Salal at Al Ahli Stadium at 7:55pm