Doha, January 28 (QNA) – The Week 12 of the 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League will witness tough matches, most notably Al Wakrah against Al Duhail at the Al Wakrah Stadium on Monday.
While Al Wakrah are third in the standings, Al Duhail are the leaders.
Matches between the two teams have always been fought closely and with a lot of excitement. Given their good form and keenness to stay at the top, the meeting is expected to be a close encounter.
Al Wakrah have recently succeeded in establishing their position among the top teams in the league and have 18 points from nine games. They beat Al Sailiya 5-0 in the previous round. Al Wakrah also have two postponed matches still to play. Thus far, they have registered five wins and three draws, besides one loss.
Al Wakrah have conceded eight goals so far while scoring 22 the most by any team in the league so far.
In comparison, Al Duhail from their 10 matches have won a whopping seven, drawn two and lost one for a tally of 23 points. The Red Knights have scored 21 goals and conceded eight (the least so far in the league along with Al Wakrah).
Interestingly, Al Duhail suffered their only loss in the league thus far against Al Wakrah in the opening round. The Red Knights had lost 2-4, but are currently in superb form and will look to avenge the defeat.
The match at the same time represents an opportunity for both teams to bring out their best to gain valuable points and stay at the top of the standings.
Al Wakrah are served by the attacking quartet of Mohamed Benyettou, Jacinto Dala, Abdulghani Munir and Khalid Munir besides Algerian midfielder Adlene Guedioura and Lucas Mendes – who scored two goals in their last match against Al Sailiya.
Al Duhail’s ranks will be complete with the exception of injured Portuguese defender Ruben Semedo, which makes all options available to coach Hernan Crespo.
Moreover, Qatar SC face Al Arabi in Week 12 of the 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League at the Qatar SC Stadium on Monday.
It is a crucial clash for both teams with each aspiring to gain the valuable points and move further up in the top four of the standings.
While Al Arabi aim to be back at the summit after losing the leadership position having lost to Al Sadd in the Qatar Derby in the last round, Qatar SC want to ensure their place in the top four.
Al Arabi are currently second with 22 points, while Qatar SC are fourth with 16 points.
The Dream Team, however, know that their task against Qatar SC won’t be easy as the latter have regained their strength and form. Qatar SC coach also has several players both local and foreign professionals to choose from in deciding his formation.
Al Arabi coach Younes Ali would want his team to bounce back from their last defeat. He would also be wary of Al Arabi not losing their momentum and the advantage they have gained following their great start in the league.
Al Arabi rely on the abilities of their stars Yousef Msakni, Omar Al Somah, Ahmed Fathi, Aron Gunnarsson, Helal Mohammed, Marc Muniesa and others.
On the other hand, Qatar SC coach Youssef Safri will be eager for his team to continue the good form and show they have been having since the return of the league after the World Cup break.
Qatar SC rely on centre forward Sebastian Soria, Congolese Ben Malango, Iraqi Bashar Rezan, Spaniard Javi Martinez and Argentinian Javi Pastore.
Traditionally, matches between Al Arabi and Qatar SC have always been characterized by the club fans’ big excitement. Both these teams are strong and a challenging contest is on cards.
Furthermore, Al Sadd will take on Al Markhiya in Week 12 of the 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League at the Al Sadd Stadium on Sunday.
Al Sadd, the defending champions over the last two editions, have bounced back in great style with two successive wins – over Al Rayyan and Al Arabi in the Qatar Clasico and Qatar Derby respectively – and will be eager to take on Al Markhiya to continue their good run.
For Al Markhiya, it will be a challenging test. They would, however, be inspired by the fact that they edged Al Sadd 4-3 in the first leg match played at the Khalifa International Stadium.
Al Sadd are placed sixth in the standings with 13 points and have two postponed games still to play. Al Markhiya are ninth with nine points and have three postponed matches remaining.
The return of their international stars have seen Al Sadd back at full force. Their professional stars the likes of Santi Cazorla, Andre Ayew and Jung Woo-Young, the return of Brazilian midfielder Guilherme Torres from injury, and the presence of stars Akram Afif, Hassan Al Haydous and Boualem Khoukhi and others make The Wolves a pack to beat.
Al Markhiya will, however, be aspiring to achieve a positive result by repeating their previous act against the rivals. It won’t be easy though and coach Abdullah Mubarak will be counting on his foreign professionals, led by Iraqi Aymen Hussein, Omani Jameel Al Yahmadi, Algerian Jugurtha Hamroun and Moroccan Driss Fettouhi to deliver the goods once again.
Abdullah Mubarak will also hope for injured Algerian defender Ayoub Ezzi to be fit in time.
The contest will be difficult for both teams. While Al Sadd will battle hard to turn the tables on Al Markhiya in their march up in the standings, the latter will put in their best to fetch more points to stay in contention for the top four places.
Al Sailiya will play Al Gharafa in Week 12 match of the 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League at the Al Ahli Stadium on Sunday.
It is a crucial match for both sides who are looking to overcome their respective losses in the previous round. The valuable three points therefore would matter a lot.
Al Sailiya need to work their way to move away from the realms of relegation since they are now bottom placed with only four points to their credit (from one win and a draw while having suffered eight defeats).
Considered as the one with the second weakest attack, Al Sailiya have scored only eight goals in their 10 matches. Their defence too has been found wanting, having conceded 23 goals.
Al Sailiya recently signed up Moroccan midfielder Ismail Javi to enhance their attack line and the technical staff hopes that the 22-year-old from the Royal Moroccan Army, who participated in the last match against Al Wakrah, will help the team enhance their performance.
On the other hand, Al Gharafa fell to seventh spot in the standings after being in the top four and will aim to shore up. They earned only one point in their last three matches having lost to Al Duhail and Qatar SC, and played out a 2-2 draw with Al Rayyan 2-2. Al Gharafa have 13 points from three wins, four draws and four defeats.They have scored 15 goals and conceded 21.
Since Portuguese Pedro Martins took over as Al Gharafa’s coach, the team is still looking forward to achieving the first victory under him. They are hoping that it would come against Al Sailiya and help them rise in the standings again.
With the return of international players and the brilliance of some foreign professionals, led by Algerian Yacine Brahimi, the coaching staff of Al Gharafa is hopeful that the team will return to winning ways.
Also, Al Shamal face Al Rayyan in Week 12 of the 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League at the Qatar SC Stadium on Monday.
Both teams are eager for a win and are looking forward to improve their results. Despite the difference between them in terms of titles and championships, the situation on the ground differs in view of Al Rayyan’s bad form this season.
Al Rayyan are 11th and are aiming for some better results.
Al Shamal, who are in eighth place with 10 points, suffered a loss against Al Duhail in their previous round and will look to compensate for the loss with a good result against Al Rayyan.
During their first meeting in the league, Al Shamal had scored a 1-0 win over Al Rayyan with the winning strike from Mohammed El Sayed.
Al Shamal have recently signed Abdulaziz Adel from Qatar SC, Mohammed Ramadan from Al Wakrah and Faisal Azadi from Al Sadd to strengthen their ranks during the winter transfers.
However, the task against Al Rayyan won’t be easy for Al Shamal. Al Rayyan had a tight defence especially with the presence of their new Japanese player Shogo Taniguchi.
Al Rayyan, guided by their Chilean coach Nicolas Cordova, were held to a thrilling 2-2 draw in their previous round which saw them miss on the valuable points they badly needed.
Al Rayyan are penultimate from the bottom of the table with five points, one ahead of Al Sailiya (12th).
Despite the team’s improvement and better performances, especially in the Qatar Clasico against Al Sadd, the lack of positive results in many matches is still what bothers their technical staff.
Al Rayyan while relying on Japanese Shogo will also hope for the continued excellence of their Ivorian striker Yohan Boli, who scored the two goals against Al Gharafa, in addition to other players such as Osama Al Tairi, Abdulaziz Hatem and Naif Al Hadhrami.
Al Ahli face Umm Salal in Week 12 match of 2022-2023 season QNB Stars League at the Al Ahli Stadium on Sunday.
Al Ahli are fifth in the league table with 14 points, while Umm Salal are 10th with seven points.
Al Ahli and Al Markhiya had played out a 2-2 draw in the last round.
Al Ahli had also edged Umm Salal 1-0 in the opening round of the league at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.
Led by their Montenegrin coach Nebojsa Jovovic, Al Ahli will face a challenging contest against Umm Salal, who are guided by coach Wesam Rizik. The teams’ battle will revolve around the coaches aiming to achieve the valuable three points and to gain a motivational push ahead of the start of the second division matches of the league this season.
Both teams have top foreign players and local professionals. While Al Ahli possess Yazan Al Naimat, Sofiane Hanni, Ali Qaderi, Abdulrashid Ibrahim, Al Dokali Al Sayed, Mohammed Hossein Kanaani, Shojae Khalilzadeh and others, Umm Salal have distinguished players in Jonathan Kodjia, Ismail Dahqani, Adel Al Sulaimane, Joao Teixeira and others.
The duel is expected to be exciting with both sides pushing for a win. (QNA)