El Jaish go head to head against Al Khor at the Lekhwiya stadium today in round three of the QSL. Jaish, who are in the semi-final of the AFC Champions League will want to win this match against Al Khor to restore confidence in the team.
The Soldiers have enjoyed an unbeaten start to the QSL season so far, but will face a tough test in Al Khor who have enjoyed strong results against the traditionally bigger clubs, under the tutelage of veteran French coach Jean Fernandez.
El Jaish will be looking to rest some key players ahead of their AFC Champions League semifinal second leg, and this could mean a start for attacker Abdulgadir Ilyas, who was called back from a loan spell with Khor at the beginning of the season.
As for the visitors they registered their first victory of the season last time out against Al Sailiya. A solitary goal from Madson was enough for the Knights, and Jean Fernandez will be hoping his side can continue their winning ways.
Indeed the attacking talents of Madson will be needed if Khor are to get anything from the match. The Brazilian striker scored his side’s only goal when the sides last met in the league in January last year. That time, Jean Fernandez set his side up to defend deep and attack on the break, and the French head coach could well do the same this time out.
Sabri Lamouchi, the head coach of El Jaish, has never defeated Al Khor and he wants to change that fact. “Al Khor is an important game for many reasons and because the last time we played in QSL was three weeks ago and we have to find our rhythm. Also, it is before our big AFC Champions League game. And I as a coach have never won against Al Khor and I would like to change that.”
“I am not thinking about the next game, I am only thinking about tomorrow and if I want to win tomorrow I have to put the best team forward,” added the French tactician ahead of the crunch encounter.
“Abderrazak Hamedallah and Khalid Abdulraouf are injured and maybe Seidou Keita can play in this match for us,” added the Lamouchi at a press conference yesterday.
Al Khor go in to this third round fixture with one loss and one win. The Knights will be hoping to get the three points against a tough opposition.
Jean Fernandez, the head coach of Al Khor had this to say ahead of the game, “I want to congratulate El Jaish for reaching the semi-final of the AFC Champions League. My team is ready, we played two friendly games and we are coming to the game with high confidence.”
“El Jaish is playing next week in semi-final of Champions League and they are eager to win and our game will give them a push for the next game so it will be tough,” added the Frenchman.
Speaking about the preparation during the break Fernandez added, “We are ready for the game as we played friendly matches against Al Sailiya and Al Rayyan which prepared us well.”