DOHA: Unbeaten this Qatar Stars League (QSL) season, former champions Al Sadd will be looking to continue their fine start to the new season tomorrow when they visit Al Arabi who would be relying on their impressive line-up of overseas players.
Al Sadd, who survived a scare against Al Shahaniya last week, will be up against an Al Arabi side that has had a major overhaul bringing in 4 new foreign signings.
On the wing Al Arabi now have former Valencia star Pablo Hernandez, upfront is Brazilian Paulo Sergio Betanin as well as Iranian Ashkan Dejagah and the mercurial Nigerian Imoh Ezekiel.
Among their local ranks, the versatile Boualem Khoukhi and Abdulaziz Hatem also stand out and could cause problems for Al Sadd’s defense that conceded two goals against second division Al Shahniya last week.
Tomorrow’s derby is a highlight on the Qatari football calendar and is expected to be a match of high quality. The clash will kick-off this at the Grand Hamad Stadium – the home of Al Arabi.
Two of the best supported teams in the league, this is the game everyone has been waiting for, the rivalry between these two teams runs deep!
From 2004 until 2014 the two sides have played each other 30 times with Al Sadd having won 15 games, whilst Arabi have won just 10. The two sides have drawn 5 times but with Al Arabi investing heavily in some quality players, things may be slightly tougher for the wolves this season. The most recent clash was last march and ended in a 1-1 draw.
Al Sadd have matched last season’s champions Lekhwiya as the only other team in the league to still have a 100% record going into round 5 of QSL. An impressive feat, considering that Al Sadd was also engaged in the Asian Champions League.
Al Sadd is firing on all cylinders and with striker Muriqui soon to come back from injury the Wolves are certainly genuine title contenders this season.
The main threat comes from the two playmakers -Rodrigo Tabata and Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan who just recently became the all-time leading scorer for the Wolves. This match will see joint first (Al Sadd) take on 3rd placed Al Arabi and will be the first major test for Hussein Ammouta charges.
For Al Arabi head coach Dan Petrescu, this game could ignite his team if the win and be the confidence booster that they need if they really want to compete with the big boys this season.
In other games tomorrow, Al Kharaitiyat face Umm Salal, Al Shamal host Lekhwiya while Al Ahli face El Jaish.
The Peninsula
