Al Sadd’s Hassan Al Haydos during a training session yesterday.
Doha: Defending champions Al Sadd will take on Qatar SC in a postponed match of QNB Stars League (QSL), targeting a victory on their home turf at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium today.
The result and points of the match will be of high importance to both teams as Al Sadd seek to compensate for their loss to Al Ahli and Qatar SC to put behind their drawn outcome against Al Sailiya in the last round (Week 15).
Al Sadd are placed fourth with 22 points, the same as Al Gharafa but they are ahead on goal difference. The Wolves, coached by Juan Manuel Lillo, have recorded seven wins, one draw and five defeats.
Qatar SC are ranked third with 23 points from seven wins, two draws and four defeats.
Al Sadd cannot afford to drop points further if they are to cherish hopes of winning the league shield for the third season in a row.
“We know that the next match will be difficult, as the opposing team is in the leading positions with all due merit and because of their excellent style of play and the possession of players who make the difference,” Lillo said yesterday.
“Al Ahli’s loss has become a thing of the past, and we do not expect it to affect the team’s performance. It was a unique match. We were able to create many chances, but unfortunately we were not able to turn them into goals.”
“Since the tournament resumed after stopping, we have won all our matches except for the Al Ahli match, and we understand that things are not in our hands now, and after the recent defeat the difficulty has increased logically, but we remain aspiring to win all the remaining matches,” Lillo added.
Meanwhile, Qatar SC coach Youssef Safri termed the game crucial for his side.
“A difficult game awaits us against Al Sadd, especially since the difference in points between us is one point in the table. It will be fierce due to its importance,” said Safri.
“We seek to overcome the mistakes of our last match against Al Sailiya, in which we were the best and closest to winning, especially as we got more chances to score, but we were not lucky and came out with a tie point. In general, I am satisfied with the performance and all the players are key."
