Al Duhail players during a practice session yesterday.
Doha: Title holders Al Duhail will have a point to prove when they host Al Sadd outfit as the two teams meet today in a marquee QNB Stars League (QSL) clash which had been postponed from Week 3 due to their AFC Champions League commitments.
The match kicks-off at 6:45pm.
Al Duhail, coming off a 2-1 victory over Qatar SC in the previous round, are placed two spots below Xavi Hernandez-coached Al Sadd and will be looking to advance in the QSL points table.
Al Sadd's Akram Afif in action during a training session.
Al Sadd, who are third in the table with seven points, are in brilliant form after winning the 2019-20 Ooredoo Cup by beating Al Arabi 4-0 in the final earlier this month.
However, it will be interesting to see what Al Duhail's new coach, Frenchman Sabri Lamouchi has to offer in terms of tactics, against the Barca great Xavi in today's match.
Lamouchi who took over the team after the club parted ways with Rui Faria, yesterday said that he and his team will be looking forward to a strong match and achieve a good result.
“I am happy to return to work in the QNB Stars League and in Qatar. I will take on a new challenge with one of the biggest Qatari teams and we started with a match against Qatar SC, where we achieved a difficult, but important victory," Lamouchi said.
“We will face one of the teams competing for the title and we are looking forward to a strong match and achieve a good result," Lamouchi said.
“The match between Al Sadd and Al Duhail is always strong. Al Sadd have great potential and this match does not determine the path of the title because we only played three matches. I will put the ready-made squad which I know is able to play the match without considering they are young or old, and the options before us are not wide. I will choose the best squad for this match.
“I want to see the best efforts on the part of the players and we are now thinking about the Al Sadd match, and then the Al Rayyan match. Then we will start preparing for our match against Al Sadd in the semifinal of Amir Cup,” the Frenchman said.
Al Duhail are have so far six points. They beat Umm Salal 3-0 in the opening round, but suffered a shock 0-1 loss to Al Wakrah in Week 2.
On the other hand, Al Sadd go into the game following their goalless draw with Al Khor. The Wolves beat Al Kharaitiyat and Al Sailiya by an identical 5-1 margin in the first two weeks.
