Qatar SC coach Younis Ali
Qatar SC, the only side yet to open their account in terms of points in this season's QNB Stars League (QSL), will be up against strong Al Rayyan as the third round of the new season kicks off today. Al Rayyan title after a thrilling battle against Al Duhail last season, will be looking to continue their form against the hosts.
The match kicks off at 20:30. Qatar SC, who occupy the bottom position, lost 0-2 to Al Gharafa and 1-2 to Al Kharaitiyat last week. The Kings, under the tutelage of former Qatar international midfielder Younis Ali, will be eager to start collecting points sooner.
Qatar SC had dropped many points in the first leg of 2019-20 QNB Stars League, but they more than made up for it with a series of positive results in the tournament’s latter session to eventually end up in eighth position. Al Rayyan, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Sailiya in their opener, got into the winning path last week by defeating Al Gharafa by a 3-1 margin.
The Lions, coached by Uruguayan Diego Aguirre, are currently placed third with four points, Despite speculations, Aguirre said it won't be an easy contest today. “There is no doubt that the league does not have an easy match.
Whatever the difference in points and other matters between the teams, the competition on the pitch will be equal. And there is no doubt that Qatar SC will not be a pushover side, especially since they are coming from two back-to-back losses. So their main goal will be to compensate for it.
“We must be fully focused on the game and our players should not spare any effort, so we can obtain the three points and continue on the winning path, having picked up our first victory last week, against Al Gharafa. “The team’s morale is high after the victory over Al Gharafa. We will try to go into the break with an important victory and seek to benefit from it in the best possible way,” said Aguirre. Qatar SC coach Ali said his side will be facing a difficult task in today's game.
“Our match against Al Rayyan is very difficult because it is against a team that competed for the title till the last round last season. They will try to make up for it in the current season and we look at this match in a different way. “We are not on the winning path for a long time. I waited for a great reaction from the players, especially since we are in a new season and the players should look forward to a different look for the current season.
“We need our players to show the fighting spirit and we need more time to change the players’ psychological aspects. We hope we will fix many things in a short span of time," he said.
In other matches today, Al Kharaitiyat face Al Sailiya at the Qatar SC Stadium (18:15) before Al Wakrah meet Umm Salal in the day's late game at the Al Duhail Stadium.
