Doha: Al Sailiya and Al Wakrah are targeting full points in their Round 7 clash of the QNB Stars League at Al Ahli Stadium, today.
Al Sailiya and Al Wakrah had dropped points in Week 6, and both teams, placed in the middle of the table, are keen to win.
Al Sailiya are sixth with eight points. The Peregrines have two victories to their credit (2-0 over Al Kharaitiyat and 4-2 over Al Gharafa). Al Sailiya, under the tutelage of Sami Trabelsi, had held last season’s runners-up Al Rayyan to a creditable 1-1 draw in their opener, but lost 1-5 to Al Sadd and 0-2 to Al Ahli.
Al Wakrah are seventh with seven points. The Blue Wave, coached by Spaniard Marquez Lopez, won two matches (1-0 over holders Al Duhail and 2-0 over Umm Salal). They lost three games (1-2 against Al Ahli, 0-1 against Al Rayyan and 0-1 against Qatar SC in the last round). Al Sailiya coach Sami Trabelsi said: “We gave the players some rest as we thought they needed time to recover because we play every three days. We felt a kind of physical exhaustion, especially in the last match against Al Khor, which ended in a goalless draw.
“We will seek to pick up points that we feel we lost against Al Khor by winning when we play against Al Wakrah. I know that we will play against a top team and perform well, but facing them is not easy at all,” he added.
“There is no doubt that our performance against Al Khor was affected by physical exhaustion and we did not enter the match properly during the first half, and when we felt in danger, we did not have the level to fight back as required,” said Trabelsi.
Meanwhile, Al Wakrah coach Marquez Lopez said: “ We had only four days to prepare for the match. This is a kind of suffering for all teams and not just Al Wakrah. Anyway, I will choose the best to play against Al Sailiya.
“It is a difficult match of course, but I think this week was good for us because it passed without injuries for the first time this season.
“For me, Al Sailiya are a very good team and have a distinguished coach who provides the team with everything. I believe they are one of the strongest teams, after Al Gharafa, Al Sadd and Al Duhail. For me, Al Sailiya work very well,” said Lopez.
