Rui Faria’s Al Duhail will be wary of much-improved Qatar Sports Club when the two sides clash in the QNB Stars League today at Al Gharafa Stadium.
Al Duhail, leading the standings with 29 points, one ahead of second-placed Al Rayyan, are unbeaten so far in 11 matches and would like to keep it that way as they target their 10th victory, having drawn two games so far
Al Duhail have been boosted by the presence of new recruit and star Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic, who joined them after a long stint with top Italian club Juventus. He has also plied his trade with Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid among other clubs.
Qatar SC are seventh in the standings with 13 points (four wins, one draw and six defeats), but they have won three of their last four games, a fact not lost on Faria.
 “The match will definitely be difficult for us. For that matter, all league matches are strong and we will work hard to achieve victory as well as full points, and also to provide an enjoyable game to the fans,” said the Portugal native.
“We will face an opponent much improved in the recent times. Looking at their statistics in the last four games, we find that they won thrice and drew once. We hope the scenario of the first match between us in the league’s first leg will not get repeated, when we pulled off victory at the death. I hope we will win this time.”
Faria also spoke on the offers from outside Qatar which Almoez Ali has been getting.
“Everyone knows that Almoez Ali has offers from outside, which is a good thing for the player and for the team. But until now, the matter has not been decided.”
He said the addition of Mandzukic was to make improve their attacking options.
“In football, players can have periods of different levels. They can offer a special match and it appears less in another one. We, in Al Duhail, always want the best. Our contract with (Mario) Mandzukic was to increase our offensive options and make our capabilities stronger.
“When Al Duhail compete in any competition we enter to win the title, but we have to think about each match separately. In football, you cannot know what can happen in the future and there are unexpected things that may happen. But in general, we must work continuously in order to achieve our targets,” said Faria.
Qatar SC goalkeeping coach Wesner who attended the press conference said his team cannot afford to be lax against Al Duhail.
“Al Duhail are the league leaders and they have solid strength in all departments of the game, right from defence through the middle and into the attack. We must accept the challenge and play with high concentration from the beginning of the game until the end. And fight the battle with intelligence and as a group,” said Wesner.
“We have trust in the capabilities of all the players and we know how to prepare them psychologically for such big matches. Al Duhail are different from other teams. They have players who can change the result in the last minute, so what is always required is focus. And that is what we tell our players because errors in such games can prove costly.”
In another match today, Al Sailiya will clash with Al Khor. Coach Sami Trabelsi spoke to the media ahead of their 2019-20 QNB Stars League Week 12 match against Al Khor.
“Ahead of our game against Al Khor, as a coach, I must give an evaluation of our work and what we have done to correct the mistakes. We have been preparing for a large number of matches that we will play during this month and have worked on improving the fitness of players,” said Al Sailiya coach Sami Trablesi.
“We also realised that we have not been scoring many goals and worked on it as well. We hope that this year will be better for the team than last year.”
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