DOHA: El Jaish will be keen to make no more mistakes after an underwhelming start to the Qatar Stars League (QSL) season when they take on Al Gharafa on October 18 at their home venue.
Both teams go into the game having won their previous matches in Round 4 of the Qatar Stars League.
The Cheetahs beat Al Arabi 1-0 to go level on points with Lekhwiya, having played one game less.
El Jaish also bagged an important win with Abderrazak Hamdallah scoring just after the hour mark against Al Kharaitiyat. They now sit in an uncharacteristically low sixth place in the league table and will be keen to bounce back to the top. They have eight points from four matches.
El Jaish have lost one and won two of their last three games whilst Al Gharafa’s form is so far impeccable with three wins and no goals conceded and have nine points, the same like Lekhwiya and Al Arabi.
El Jaish fortunes will largely revolve around the form of Abderrazak Hamdallah, who has been a sensation for Jaish since joining over this summer. The Moroccan has scored four goals in four matches. The new striker has settled well and has created a good understanding with fellow attacking players, Wagner Ribeiro and Romarinho.
For Gharafa however injury worries have struck them early in the season. New signing Yassine Chikhaoui might not feature and Dioko is still recovering from a hamstring tear.
The Cheetahs will therefore hope that winger Moayad Hassan, new signing Masoud Shojaei and veteran midfielder Lawrence Quaye give their best performance of the season to date.
Statics wise, in the last five clashes El Jaish has come out on top, with three wins, and one draw. Gharafa have only won once in a tight 2-1 home win last October.
Both coaches know the importance of this game, for Gharafa a good start will be mightily reinforced if they can nick a win over one of the best teams in the league, as they look to get back to their previously high standards of years gone by.
El Jaish are a team who are always there or there abouts come the end of the season but as of yet have failed to break the stranglehold that Sadd and Lekhwiya have over the league.
On Sunday therefore, with Gharafa’s injury list growing and Jaish possessing plenty of quality throughout the team, the spectators have a cracker of a match at hand.
The Peninsula
