Qatar Stars League (QSL) side Al Ahli will be sweating on the fitness of two key players ahead of their round eight clash against Al Sailiya.
Midfielder Ali Qadri was left out of Ahli’s 1-1 draw with Umm Salal, after an injury during the warmup for the match. Whilst Meshal Mubarak suffered a groin strain early in the first half, causing the defender to be substituted.
The duo will now be assessed by the Al Ahli medical team in the following days and a decision will be made ahead of their Friday afternoon game against Sailiya. Al Ahli are currently in ninth place in the QSL standings and have eight points from seven games.
Meanwhile, the QSL match of the week for round eight will involve two old rivals facing off in Al Arabi and Al Sadd. Both sides head into the tie off the back of negative results in round seven and will be eager to secure all three points to push up in the QSL standings.
Al Arabi’s poor early season form continued as the Dream Team fell to their fourth consecutive defeat of the season, losing 4-2 to Al Gharafa. New head coach Edison Aguirre was unable to inspire his side to victory, with Al Arabi falling into the relegation zone for the first time this season.
One positive for Aguirre will be the upturn in form of captain Boualem Khoukhi. The Qatar international was pushed into midfield for the Al Gharafa tie, and duly bagged a brace for his side including a goal which is an early goal of the season contender. Khoukhi will have to continue his goal scoring ways.
As for the visitors Al Sadd, they dropped points with a 1-1 draw against bottom of the table Al Wakrah. The Wolves looked took an hour to break down a resolute Wakrah backline, eventually taking the lead thanks to a close range strike from Jugurtha Hamroun. However in stoppage time Sadd gave away a penalty, which was duly converted by Mouhcine Moutouali.
