DOHA: Qatar Stars League (QSL) giants El Jaish are eyeing a win against Al Sailiya today when the two sides meet in a round 15 clash at Al Gharafa Stadium.
El Jaish, with a tally of 29 points, are behind QSL leaders Al Rayyan (39) and ahead of third-placed Lekhwiya (28).
After today’s clash, the teams disperse for a three-week break as Doha stages the AFC U-23 Championship.
“It’s an important game for us. It will be good to take three points before going into the break,” coach Sabri Lamouchi said on Saturday. “We will do our best to take three points and finish this part of the season with a victory,” Lamouchi added..
“It will be a tough game for us. Al Sailiya weren’t that good at the beginning of the season. But now, with the work that (coach) Sami Trabelsi has put in, the team has become stronger,” Lamouchi said.
“Abdelqader Illyas, who was with us before, has helped Al Sailiya become stronger in attack. They are now more dangerous. But we have confidence in our players,” he added.
“We want to show the quality in our club but we will face a different Al Sailiya from the first half of the season. We have a good week of preparation and we need to continue to provide a good performance and that’s the only way we can win the game. It’s not going to be an easy game,” Lamouchi added.
Lamouchi said nine wins out of 14 games was pleasing.
“I am satisfied with the performance of my players, with their attitude. I don’t want to change a lot in the team during the transfer window,” Lamouchi said.
“Maybe I will look to boost our defence because that has been an issue for us. But I have to congratulate the players who played in the last two games for their attitude and for the work that they put in. And now we have to be more strong and better prepared for the second half of the season.
“Players have to understand that this Al Sailiya is not the team we played in the first half of the season. Against Al Rayyan we lost despite giving a good performance. Against Al Sadd we gave a good performance and won. We have to know that this is a difficult game for us but will do our best to take the victory even if our opponent is very good,” he added.
Al Sailiya coach Trabelsi said a win on Sunday would bring delight to his camp. Al Sailiya are placed seventh on the QSL points table.
“This is our last game before the break and hopefully we will continue getting good results. During this small break before the game we prepared our team tactically, tried to keep the players fit and also tried to correct a few mistakes,” Trabelsi said yesterday.
“We are playing a good opponent with one of the best attacking line-ups in Qatar. El Jaish will be a very tough game but we are ready and hope that we will play with concentration for the entire 90 minutes. The victory will be important for us before going into the break,” Trabeli said.
“We can say that in the last 3-4 games we found the perfect squad combination with which we can play well. We finished the first half of the season with 19 points. We did this in the first season I had come in.
“Maybe we should have done better this season but now we are focussing on the remaining games. We weren’t clever in some of the games where we could have gotten better results. We have to grab positive results in every game we can.
“Al Sailiya, specially in the second part of the first half was good. We had big results and we are looking to continue in this way in the second half of the season,” Trabeli said.
“This is a very important game for us. Winning keeps the atmosphere positive and gives you more confidence. Top-4 is not something we are thinking about right now. There are other teams who are closer than us.
“But we are aiming to be in the 5th or 6th position. But if we have a chance to get into the top-4, we will take it. But right now we have to focus on this game and then after the break get another good start to the league.
“El Jaish have a good team and big players with great strikers. It will not be easy but it’s not impossible to win against El Jaish. We have a good team and we can win against Jaish. We are not thinking about finishing in any particular position.
“We are only looking at only getting more points and starting the second half of the league in a goo way. If we win, we will get better, get more confident and the next game will be easier for us,” Trabelsi said.
The game kicks off at 6:45pm. The Peninsula
