El Jaish's Romarinho (front) vies for the ball pocession with Al Ahli player during a Qatar Stars League match played at Al Ahli Stadium in this file photo.
The 12th round of the Qatar Stars League (QSL) season kicks off today when table toppers El Jaish take on Al Gharafa at Lekhwiya Stadium. The kick off is set for 5.40pm.
Having only lost once so far in the league, Sabri Lamouchi’s side currently occupies the top spot, one point ahead of both Al Sadd and Lekhwiya who are also having an amazing run this season.
Last time out, Jaish left it late to defeat Muaither 2-1 thanks to goals from Uzbekistan international Sardor Rashidov.
Indeed Rashidov will have to be at his best if Jaish are to win against Al Gharafa. The young winger has popped up with a number of crucial goals for his side this season, and will be eager to add to his tally of six goals this term.
As for Al Gharafa they had been the QSL’s form team heading into their round eleven match against Al Sailiya and had been on a eight game undefeated streak. However their run of games came to an end as the Cheetahs fell to a 2-1 defeat. Pedro Caixina will now have to lift the spirits of his side and will see the tie against the league leaders as ideal motivation for his team.
Caixinia will be hoping that attacker Vladimir Weiss can step up for his side against Jaish. The Slovakian international has three goals from his last three QSL games, and will be looking to punish an El Jaish side who could be without key defender Lucas Mendes for this evening's clash.
Sabri Lamouchi, the head coach of Al Gharafa is looking forward to the break after the two upcoming games, “First game of two before the vacation and its Al Gharafa, my players deserve the break because they have been working very hard. It’s a good team, they have good players and good midfield it will be a tough game.”
“When we play against a better team we make a good performance. (During) The previous games against Muaither and Shahania they don’t give you space and time they are not easy teams to play against. Last season we lost a lot of points to small teams and this season we are making sure this doesn’t happen. We played with determination and passion and we never give up and this is a quality of my players,” added the French tactician at the press conference yesterday.
Speaking about the team’s ambition and determination, Lamouchi added, “Our team is working at a rate of 150%. The players are giving more than they can. After the AFC semi-final, we lost a lot of energy but the players came back with a lot of determination. This year we have played better, with more determination. This time last year we were losing points to the small teams but this year I’m happy with the player’s reaction.”
Al Gharafa’s five game winning streak came to an end in their last game against Sailiya which they lost 2-1. The Cheetahs are in fourth pace with twenty points and will be hunting for a victory against the table toppers.
Pedro Caixinha, the head coach of Al Gharafa is going into this game for the win, “It’s up to the players if they are going to start or not we have set up all the players. We are going into this game to win and that’s what we are aiming for.”
Speaking about his teams' injury situation, Caixinha added, “We have seven players out with injury, El Jaish also have many injuries but on the day both teams will have eleven players on the field. We lost the last game but it’s important to note that we went more than seventy days without losing and that is because of the quality of the players. We are a big team, we have history and you cannot buy that.”
