Umm Salal, under the stewardship of Moroccan Aziz Ben Askar, will run into leaders Al Duhail on Saturday at the Al Janoub Stadium as the outfit aims to move up the standings, even as Al Shahania faces a daunting task at the bottom of the 12-team QNB Stars League (QSL).
Umm Salal are 11th in the standings with 14 points, the same as Al Khor but behind on goal difference, while Al Shahania only have one victory and seven draws for their 10 points.
Umm Salal produced some positive results this year, after suffering a string of negative results in the first leg, ever since Ben Askar, himself a former Umm Salal defender, took charge last November.
Among their overseas recruits, Ben Askar retained only Syrian striker Mahmoud al-Mawas, while offloading Brazilian Joao Victor, Spaniard Victor Vasquez, Ivorian Yannick Sagbo and Moroccan Adil Rhaili. In came Enes Sipovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Argentinian Raul Becerra, and the Algerian duo of Ayoub Azzi and Walid Mesloub.
And forward Ismail Mahmoud has returned to the fold following his loan spell at Al Wakrah.
Besides intense training, they are readying for the resumption of action by playing some friendlies. They held Al Sadd to a 1-1 draw and lost 0-3 to Al Rayyan.
Umm Salal, facing relegation threat, will be eager to continue their unbeaten run as they have not tasted defeat ever since their 0-4 loss to Al Rayyan in Week 12 on January 3.
Umm Salal’s other remaining matches in the QSL are against Qatar SC (Week 19), Al Ahli (Week 20), Al Gharafa (Week 21) and Al Sailiya (Week 22).
At Al Shahania, Nabil Anwar recently replaced Spaniard Jose Murcia, and the outfit will resume competitive action against Al Ahli on Sunday at Al Sadd Stadium.
Despite scoring 17 goals, two more than the 11th-placed Umm Salal, Al Shahania have the worst goal difference in the league this season at -20.
Despite the departure of Tunisian Ahmed Akaichi and his strike partner Ali Ferydoun for Al Shamal after his loan spell, the core of the squad remains the same. Al Shahania’s four overseas professionals are Dutchman Nigel de Jong, Spaniard Alvaro Mejia, Iranian Ramin Rezaein and Ivorian Kesse Amanguoa.
Coach Nabil is also counting on Qatari players, such as Saad al-Sawan, Mustafa Jalal, Saleh al-Yahri and Abdullah Khaled al-Yazidi.
Al Shahania cannot afford to drop points in the remaining five games if they are to stay in the top flight, as nearest teams in the table, Al Khor and Umm Salal both have 14 points.
Al Shahania’s other remaining matches in the league are against Al Sailiya (Week 19), Qatar SC (Week 20), Al Rayyan (Week 21) and Al Khor (Week 22). (QSL.qa)