Al-Khor hopes to pull off a major upset, and hopes to taste victory for the first time when it hosts Al-Sadd, the defending champion, in the most difficult confrontation it can face.
Undoubtedly, Al Sadd is more likely to win, as it is the most experienced and the most superior. However, nothing is impossible in football, and there have been many surprises this season, such as Al Shahaniya’s victory over Al Duhail and Al Shamal’s victory over Al Arabi.
The difficult confrontation begins at Al Khor Stadium at four in the evening today, as part of the tenth round of the Areed Stars League.
Al Khor ranks twelfth and last with only 4 points, and Al Sadd is in second place with 18 points.
From the reality of numbers and levels, the leader’s side is more likely and he is closest to victory, and from the football reality, matches are not decided by such matters as much as they are decided by effort, sweat, the desire to do something, and most important of all this and that, the ability to exploit any opportunity.
Al-Khor is in dire need of a victory after it became alone at the bottom and after it became the first candidate to quickly return to the second division league, and Al-Sadd also needs a victory to continue chasing Al-Duhail and reach the lead and the summit and continue the journey of retaining the title. According to the capabilities possessed by each team, Al-Zaeem is expected to initiate pressure and attack from the first minutes, relying on its big star Akram Afif, the fast winger Henrique, and spearhead Mujica. Al-Sadd also relies on its left-back Otavio or Mohamed Waad, while the team is missing its players at the right-back due to… Pedro was injured, then Abdullah Al-Yazidi.
As for Al-Khor, it is natural for it to resort to defense and clustering in front of its goal, especially in the first minutes, to prevent its goal from being shaken early, and then try to reach the goal through counterattacks led by Sufyan Hani from the midfield, and in front of him are the spearheads Ayman Hussein and Johann Boly.
Sanchez: Always difficult
Al Sadd coach Felix Sanchez confirmed his team’s readiness to face Al Khor, and said, “Our match against Al Khor. Things are always difficult when we play after the international break, because the players return after playing two matches with their national teams, and some of them have made long trips.”
He added: We have to evaluate the players’ condition in order to prepare well for this match. We know that we have a short time to prepare, but we are excited about this match. He continued: We have four important matches in the coming period, starting with our match against Al-Khor. Winning matches is important, but we know that every match has its own story. We have to focus only on the match.
He concluded: This match will be different, so we worked to prepare hard and well for it in order to achieve victory.
Oil: We are ready for the dam
Tunisian Mahdi Al-Nafti, Al-Khor coach, confirmed his team’s readiness to face Al-Sadd. He said, “We prepared for this match like other matches, and of course we all know that Al Sadd has good and distinguished elements, but as I said, we do not look at the standings table, and I believe in the abilities and capabilities of my team’s players to get out of this region.”
He added: My team has been different for a month and is playing good football, but the results are lacking, and as you can see how our performance was in the last 3 or 4 matches, as the team is playing distinctive football, which makes us aspire to produce positive results in the upcoming matches.
He continued: The players are improving match after match and we are creating more chances and we have always been the better side in recent matches.