Al Gharafa face off against one of the title favourites Lekhwiya in a crunch encounter at the Al Gharafa stadium today.
Al Gharafa lost their opening game of the league to Al Ahli 4-2, and they will put everything on the line to get the three points against Lekhwiya.
Talking about Lekhwiya, Al Gharafa head coach Pedro Caixinha said, “There is no doubt that we are about to face the best team in Qatar at the moment. They have proven this with the level of their performance in there last match.”
Speaking about the last game, Caixinha said, “We made a lot of mistakes in the last game; we didn’t defend well however we will try and come back in this game. This will be the first home game for us and we go into it knowing we are going to play the best team in Qatar but in football the best team doesn’t always win.”
“Our first objective is clean sheet and score first and that’s always our plan,” the Portuguese tactician added.
Lekhwiya have made a dream start to the season first by winning the Sheikh Jassim Cup and then beginning their QSL campaign with a 4-0 win over Muaither.
Lekhwiya coach Djemal Belmadi, however, was cautious ahead of today’s game. “Gharafa will fight back after their defeat. It will be a tough game against Gharafa and with a lot of international players in both teams. I know they lost the first game but this is more dangerous because they have a lot of tough players who can give a strong reaction.”
Speaking about his Qatari goalscorer, Almoez Ali, Belmadi said, “It was important to bring Moez back into the team as he is a great professional and I believe that he will be a key player for the national team. He is a hard worker and I love that in a player.”
The Algerian added: “Yousef al-Arabi needs no introduction. He played in La Liga and is a top scorer in Granada. He came here with a lot of ambition and his national team is going to qualify for the World Cup and he will also play in the AFCON cup. We missed this type of a player and I am sure he will score a lot of goals this season.”