Third-placed Al Rayyan will take on an inconsistent Al Gharafa in the ninth round of the QNB Stars League at the Khalifa International Stadium today. Rayyan, who have 21 points, can move into second place after Al Sadd lost to Duhail yesterday.
Rayyan have shown consistency in their performance even though they slipped by one place in the standings on goal difference last week. On the other hand, Al Gharafa are consistently inconsistent to be on seven points.
“I’m happy and satisfied with Al Rayyan’s superiority in the Week 8 match against Al Arabi. We’re in third spot, but that’s no problem for us. I say that because Al Rayyan are playing attacking football which is good,” Al Rayyan coach Michael Laudrup said.
Al Rayyan will miss young midfielder Ahmed al-Saadi, who is out for the rest of this season after undergoing an operation for cruciate ligament repair at Qatar’s orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital Aspetar. He suffered the injury during their 2-0 victory against Qatar SC in Week 7. “Al Gharafa are a team with a lot of good players. They may not have collected many points, but they’ve the potential to do much more. We’re not underestimating them. They also have some players who were with us last season,” Laudrup said.
“Al Gharafa beat us in both phases last season and we’ve a point to prove. This time, we want to change the scenario. There are 22 games and I don’t believe one game’s result will have much of an impact when you look at the larger picture,” he added.
Laudrup praised Rodrigo Tabata, saying the attacking midfielder sets an example for youngsters. “I would like to highlight (Rodrigo) Tabata’s role in our outstanding run. He’s the first to reach the training site and the last to leave. He isn’t young anymore, yet he’s an example for youngsters. I’m sure the Khalifa International Stadium will provide a good setting for the game. It’s a big venue where we played last season’s Emir’s Cup final. A lot of fans may be coming for this match as well,” said Laudrup.
Al Gharafa even held a marauding Al Duhail, but lost big-time to Al Kharaitiyat and had to play out a draw with promoted team Al Markhiya. They are the team with the most number of draws (four) in the tournament.
Al Gharafa coach Jean Fernandez said: “We haven’t been having a good run of late and it’s time we put behind the disappointments and start winning matches. Seven points from eight games do not augur well for us. Definitely, we’ll be motivated against Al Rayyan for many reasons. “We had put up a good show against Al Sailiya, but lost. Our performance hasn’t been stable and we need to show consistency. We played well in some matches. But in some other games, we created a lot of opportunities, but didn’t score and paid the price for that.
In another match, Al Kharaitiyat will look to restore their pride, dented after crashing to a huge defeat against leaders Al Duhail in Week 8, when they host Al Ahli at the Al Khor Stadium. In the process, they slipped from seventh to ninth in the standings as they stayed on six points. Moroccan striker Rachid Tiberkanine, who has so far scored six goals, leads their challenge as they seek their second victory, with Tunisian coach Ahmad al-Ajlani desperate to make a turnaround.
Al Ahli, on the other hand, are on a high, having achieved their second win in Tunisian coach Nassif al-Bayawi’s first match in charge to be on eight points. Spanish coach Joaquin Capaross will just hope his professional players come good. Meanwhile, Umm Salal, fifth with 13 points, are coming off two successive defeats and will be keen to get their campaign back on track, having been out of the top-four bracket. The Orange Fortress should have it easy against bottom side Qatar SC (three points) at the Al Gharafa Stadium. Umm Salal will miss the services of suspended midfielder Adel Alawi. Meanwhile, Qatar SC’s Nigerian striker Michael Babatunde will return to action after serving a one-match suspension.

Today’s fixtures
At 4pm: Al Kharaitiyat vs Al Ahli; Umm Salal
vs Qatar SC
At 6:10pm: Al Rayyan vs Al Gharafa