QNB Stars League: Al Sadd Face Al Rayyan in the Peak of Week 3

Doha, September 20 (QNA) - The third week of the Qatar Football League (QNB Stars League) 2021/22 will witness strong confrontations where Al Gharafa will play against Al Duhail, Al Sadd will face Al Rayyan, with great interest regarding the history of their confrontations. The matches of the third round will be played over two days, Al Shamal will play Qatar SC, Al Arabi will meet Al Sailiya, and Umm Salal will play with Al Ahli in Tuesday, while Al Duhail will play Al Gharafa, Al Wakrah, Al Khor and Al Sadd, Al Rayyan match on Tuesday. The start of the round will witness Al Shamal against Qatar SC at 16:45 at the Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday, Al Shamal, back in the First Division after a gap of six seasons, are at the rock bottom of standings, yet to open their account. They had lost both matches, 0-2 to Al Gharafa and 2-3 to Al Sailiya in the last round. Although Al Shamal took the lead twice against Al Sailiya, The Peregrines had the last laugh. Al Shamal coach Hisham Jadrane will be keen that his wards get off the mark sooner. Qatar SC, meanwhile, occupy the 10 th position in the table with one point that they earned from their goalless draw against Al Ahli in Week 1, under Brazilian Ze Ricardo, lost to reigning champions Al Sadd 1-3 in the last round after taking the lead, Qatar SC too will look to get their campaign on track, Al Shamal are noted for the presence of Bahaa Faisal, Ali Awad and Nasser Al Nasr and Qatar SC for Youcef Belaili, Javier Martinez, Ahmed Moeen, Djamel Benlamri and Sebastian Soria. In another confrontation between Al Arabi and Al Sailiya, at 19:30 at the Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday, Al Arabi are fourth in the standings with three points that they bagged from their 1-0 win over Al Wakrah in Week 1. However, former Qatar international midfielder Younes Alis wards lost 1-2 to Al Duhail in the last round. Al Arabi will look to remain in the top four, though they have a tough task on hand against Al Duhail, Al Arabi and Al Sailiya are both on three points, but the former were placed ahead on better goal difference. Al Sailiya started their campaign on a losing note after they were beaten 2-0 by Al Sadd, but they bounced back from deficit twice to beat promoted Al Shamal 3-2 in the last round, the team under Tunisian Sami Trabelsi for long, are keen on a top-four finish and that will should the encounter exciting, Aaron Bupendza, Mehrdad Mohammadi, Aron Gunnarsson, captain Ahmed Fathy and Hamed Ismail (Al Arabi) and Valentin Adama and Driss Fettouhi (Al Sailiya) will be players to watch. In the third confrontation, Umm Salal face Al Ahli at 19:30 at the Al Arabi Stadium on Tuesday, Umm Salal are sixth with two points, they started off this season by playing out a creditable 2-2 draw with Al Rayyan. Umm Salal, coached by Brazilian Sergio Farias, drew in the second round too, held 1-1 by Al Khor, Umm Salal would look a far better performance this season, given that they have made many changes at the level of players and coach. Al Ahli, on the other hand, are ninth with one point which they collected from their goalless draw against Qatar SC in the opening round. The Brigadiers, who retained the services of Montenegrin coach Nebojsa Jovovic this season, however lost 0-1 to Al Gharafa in the last round, both sides have players capable of delivering the goods. The Umm Salals ranks include Yassin Al Bakhit, Ali Ferydoon, Izael Barbosa and Ayman Abdennour, while Al Ahli rely more on Marko Jevtovic, Nasser Khalfan, Saleh Al Yazidi, Sofiane Bouftini and Hussein Kanaani. Al Duhail will face Al Gharafa in Week 3 at 16:45 at the Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday, Portuguese Luis Castro-coached Al Duhail are leading the table with six points and an all-win record. They have the same number of points as reigning champions Al Sadd and Al Gharafa, who all have an all-win record, but The Red Knights are placed ahead on better goal difference. Al Duhail and Al Sadd have the same number of goal difference (four) too, but the former have scored more number of goals (six) compared to Al Sadds five. Al Arabis goal difference is +3. Al Duhail will not want a let-up in their bid to regain the league shield. Andrea Stramaccioni-coached Al Gharafa, a traditional powerhouse in Qatar football, had finished fourth in the last two seasons and their aim will not be different this time around. Al Gharafa, currently placed third in the QNB Stars League standings, started off with a 2-0 win over Al Shamal and followed it up with a 1-0 victory over Al Ahli. The match-up is sure to evoke excitement, especially since both teams boast of outstanding players. As for the Clasico between Al Sadd and Al Rayyan, at 19:30 at the Khalifa International Stadium, it is of great importance by the fans of the two teams in particular and the Qatari football fans in general, and it brings together the defending champion Al Sadd , and Al Rayyan, who ranked third in last seasons championship. Al Rayyan, who drew 2-2 with Umm Salal in Week 1, were locked in a 1-1 draw with Al Wakrah in the last round, Frenchman Laurent Blanc knows the task this time will not be easy for their wards , who had finished in the third place in last seasons QNB Stars League. Al Sadd began their title defence in style by beating Al Sailiya 2-0 and followed it up by defeating Qatar SC 3-1, Al Sadd will miss the trio of Santi Cazorla, Saad Al Dossari and Abdelkarim Hassan (all due to injuries), and right-back Pedro Miguel, who got injured in their first match against Al Sailiya, is doubtful. On the other hand, Al Rayyan may continue to miss Algerian attacking midfielder Yacine Brahimi, but they have the services of Yohan Boli upfront and Abdulaziz Hatem in the midfield. Al Sadd had total domination of Al Rayyan in last seasons Qatar Clasico, winning 1-0 in the first leg and 2-1 in the second leg. In anothe match, Al Khor will face Al Wakrah at 19:30 at the Al Khor Stadium on Wednesday, placed 11th with one point that they earned from their 1-1 draw with Umm Salal in Week 2. The Knights had started well against last seasons runners-up Al Duhail by scoring an early goal, but they went down 1-4 in the opening round. Al Khor, under the tutelage of German Winfried Schafer, will be keen to avoid the ignominy of playing the Relegation Play-Off for the third successive season, so they will look to garner as many points as possible early in the tournament. On the other hand, Al Wakrah began their campaign by losing 0-1 to Al Arabi, but The Blue Wave pulled off a 1-1 draw with Al Rayyan in Week 2, coached by Spaniard Marquez Lopez, are eighth in the QNB Stars League with one point. Al Khor have the likes of Rafael Vaz, who scored their only goal against Al Duhail, Giannis Fetfazidid, Ismail Al Haddad, Helal Mohammed and Saeed Brahimi, while Al Wakrah have Mohamed Benyettou as their spearhead. (QNA)