On a high after winning their maiden Ooredoo Cup title, Al Duhail turn their attention to QNB Stars League, where they hold a two-point lead. Today, the Red Knights face bottom-side Al Sailiya and coach Hernan Crespo said he wants his side to play with focus as aim to keep the winning momentum going."A tricky match awaits us after we won the first title of the season (Ooredoo Cup) and we must now focus on the league matches and maintaining the lead," the Argentine said yesterday."All clubs facing us are motivated to come out with a good result against us and statistics indicate that the Al Sailiya match will be difficult despite the clear advantage for the players of our team. I trust in their ability to provide the performance required of them and we know that the Al Sailiya team changed the coaching staff, which will give the players a morale boost. Besides, we do not know the technical strategy of the new coach," Crespo added.Sailiya are at the far end in the table and are hoping to steer clear away from the relegation zone. Sailiya have made changes to their coaching staff with young coach Mirghani al-Zain assuming the technical task instead of veteran Tunisian Sami Trabelsi.Sailiya have been able to win only two matches in the league so far and as such the new coach will have a challenging role with the side taking on Duhail.The Red Knights, however, will not be taking the opposition lightly knowing well that Al Sailiya would produce their best seeking to wriggle out of the danger zone. Sailiya and Duhail had played out a 1-1 draw in their first-leg meeting.Al-Zain said: "We worked hard during the break on the physical and technical sides, position of the players and forming an image of the team in general. Facing Al Duhail, the league leaders, is tough and we will try to appear well and perform differently. We will focus on injecting new blood into the team.He added: "The current situation of the team is difficult, but we will try with all our efforts to change the image of the team and bring out the best in the players on the field. We will be hopeful until the last moment as long as we are mathematically still on the field and have the opportunity to move away from the last of league standings."In other match today, Al Sadd face Al Wakrah. Defending champions Al Sadd are placed third with 32 points from 10 victories, five defeats and two draws, having conceded 21 goals and scored 34 goals.Al Wakrah are fourth in the table with 27 points from seven wins, six draws and four defeats. So far, they have scored 33 goals and conceded 18 goals.In their first-leg match, Al Wakrah had emerged as 2-1 winners against Al Sadd and The Blue Wave would be hoping for another win against the formidable rivals.The match represents an opportunity for both teams as Al Wakrah seek to win to stay in the top four, while Al Sadd will be motivated to gain the valuable points to advance in the standings to maintain their hopes of competing for the championship title.The matches between these two teams have always witnessed excitement and once again the clash is expected to produce a strong contest with each side looking to outweigh the other.
March 31, 2023 | 11:25 PM