Al Gharafa Interim Coach Habib Sadeq (left) and Lekhwiya head coach Djamel Belmadi.

By Sports Reporter/Doha


Former champions Al Gharafa players will have to dig deep when they take on Lekhwiya in Match of the Week today. Al Gharafa were touted to be the title contenders when they started the season, having brought in a new coach and key players.
However, their season has imploded quite dramatically with them currently in eighth position with just 15 points from their 13 games so far. They have allowed more goals than they have scored (10 vs 15) and have suffered three losses in their previous four games.
Their latest loss was a 0-2 loss to Al Khor. Al Gharafa dominated that match but couldn’t capitalize on that and ended up giving Al Khor their third win of the season. They have conceded six goals in their three recent losses and haven’t been able to score in four games so far. Their main striker Alain Dioko is a pale shadow of himself compared to his performances of last year.
In contrast, defending champions Lekhiwya who suffered a dramatic loss of form in the middle of the first half, are now on a five-match winning streak. Adding to their confidence will be the fact that they have scored 19 goals in those five matches.
Striker Youssef Msakni has scored in three consecutive matches and has taken his tally to 11 goals this season. The Tunisian is just two goals behind Rayyan’s Rodrigo Tabata, who is leading the goal scoring charts. Coach Djamel Belmadi will hope that Msakni can continue finding the back of the net.
Lekhwiya are currently in third place, one point behind Al Sadd in second and 11 points behind Al Rayyan at the top. They would be keen to continue raking in the points in the hope that Al Rayyan will slip up and they will be able to take advantage.
Belmadi’s boys are the clear favourites going into this Round 14 match and will look to wrap up the three points but if Dioko can find his goal-scoring form then this will shape up to be an exciting clash. Al Gharafa players will feel motivated because they are playing a big team like Lekhiwya and that a win in this match will go a long way in turning around their season.

‘not giving up on title’
Belmadi said that his team would not giving up fighting for the title. “Our ambition is not to be in the top 4. Till the moment we have a chance with the points, we will continue to fight and try and finish as high as possible,” Belmadi said.   
“We have never sacrificed one competition for the other. We are playing in many tough and difficult competitions and that is not so easy especially when you have a small squad like ours,” Belmadi said.   “But we want to play big games and to go as far as we can in any competition. We don’t want to choose which competition we want to play in. We are trying to win everything that is possible,” he added.   
“Al Gharafa is a big club. They are going through a rough patch currently. Changing a coach mid-season is never easy for the players or the club,” Belmadi said when asked about Al Gharafa’s eighth spot in QSL points race.   
“But like always you cannot predict the result. Especially when teams play against us, there is always an extra level of motivation among the opponents. They have players with lots of quality like Alain Dioko and Yasin Chikhaoui. These are players with lots of experience and they know how to deal with these kind of tough moments,” the Algerian added.   
Al Gharafa coach Habib Sadeq said his side cannot afford to lose more games.   
“We have to stop losing points and stop losing games,” Sadeq said yesterday.
“The game will be difficult. We are playing the champions. We have tried to prepare for this game. And we gave some days for players to recover and now we have to enter this game with full concentration,” Sadeq added.   
“We are looking to win three points. We know that on paper Lekhwiya are favourites for this game. But Al Gharafa always enter any game with 50 per cent chance against any opponent. And we will play with determination during the entire duration of the game and look to take the victory.   
“I am now the head coach and am trying to prepare the team for each game. I am focussing only on my players. And if I have any pressure then its only regarding results. We have to win games.   
“Now we are focussing on trying to come back and collect as many points as we can. The second half of the season will be very important for us,” he added.