Al sadd's Rodrigo Tabata in action during a practice session.
Doha: Title favourites Al Sadd will look to extend their unbeaten run when they take on Al Kharaitiyat at home as the 12th round of the QNB Stars League kicks off today.
Al Sadd go into the game with extra confidence after showing impressive performances in the first half of the season as the Xavi Hernandez-coached Wolves top the table with 29 points to remain as the only unbeaten team so far.
Apart from two drawn fixtures, including last week's one-all stalemate with Qatar SC, Al Sadd have dominated the season with a huge goal difference of 28 in their favour.
Their opponents are not having an enjoyable run this season, as Al Kharaitiyat are sitting at the bottom of the table as of now. They have managed to collect six points from two victories, but having lost nine matches, the most by any team, Al Kharaitiyat are in dire straits.
However, Xavi yesterday said that he is not going to underestimate Al Kharaitiyat's strengths.
“We play against the team last in the table but they are a good team. I respect the coach Yousuf Adam a lot; he has had a good performance and I think he is a very good coach,” Xavi said during a pre-match press conference.
“He’s doing a great job in the country and I think they deserve more points. They don’t deserve to be in the last position.”
Xavi is predicting a difficult match against Al Kharaitiyat.
“It will be difficult because all the clubs are really motivated against Al Sadd. So we have to take care. If we relax, we may lose points and it will be really difficult. “We have to respect Al Kharaitiyat, they have a good team and good players, and it will be tough to get the three points.”
Al Kharaitiyat coach Yousef Adam admitted the confrontation will be difficult, but nothing is impossible.
“Undoubtedly, everyone in the team is well aware that Al Sadd are a big team and have distinguished players. The match against them will be difficult. The psychological aspect during preparation is very important," Yousef said.
“There is nothing impossible in football even though everyone expects that Al Kharaitiyat will lose to Al Sadd as it is a match between the leaders and the last-placed side in the standings, but football does not know the impossible, as I mentioned," Yousef said.
In today's match, Al Sadd will be without their prominent stars Akram Afif and Boualem Khoukhi as they are suffering from COVID-19 infection. The club yesterday announced that one of their key players, defender Tarek Salman has been ruled out of today's game after sustaining an injury.
In other matches today, Al Rayyan will meet Al Sailiya at Al Sadd Stadium (18:45) while Al Wakrah take on Al Ahli at Al Arabi Stadium (18:45).
