Newly-promoted Al Shahania take on QSL veterans Al Gharafa in round four of the league. The match will take place at the Al Arabi stadium today.
Shahania have done surprisingly well so far in the league picking up four points from three games. They will be aiming to continue their strong performance against Al Gharafa.
Jose Fernando, the new head coach of Al Shahania believes that all games are important, “All games for Shahania are big games. The next game is against Gharafa and I expect it to be difficult. I will put my best team forward and we will try our best.”
“I respect all opponents and Al Gharafa is a strong team. To do what they did with the players they have is amazing. But we will go into this match looking for three points,” added the Portuguese tactician.
Speaking about his team’s ambition Fernando added, “It is important to keep the distance from the drop zone and if we have more points we can play with confidence. If we have less number of points the confidence is lower and it’s not about the skill of the players. These players put a lot of hard work to come up in the QSL and they want to stay here.”
Al Gharafa so far have three points from as many games which is a disappointing start for the Cheetah’s. However they will be on the hunt for all three points against an inexperienced side.
Pedro Caixinha, the head coach of Al Gharafa, spoke about facing two recently promoted sides in back to back games, “I can connect these last two games as both teams came from the second division and both of them are strong defensively. We need to be strong offensively and organised in defence and learn from our mistakes in previous games.”
“Shahania surprised me in many ways as they changed the coach and now the assistant coach has become the head coach. However the tactics remain the same. They are very strong in defence. We are prepared for a team that can capitalise on our mistakes,” added the Portuguese head coach.
Speaking about player confidence levels, Caixinha added: “When the team plays and they don’t get the results it changes the confidence of your squad. So when you have good performances and good results this will get you confidence in the players. We always say winning one game means you can win the next one and that’s what we will try to do tomorrow.”

Khor take on Kharaitiyat looking
to add to points tally
Al Khor take on Al Kharaitiyat the Al Khor Stadium today looking to add to their tally of points. Khor currently have three points from as many games.
Jean Fernandez, the head coach of Al Khor, believes the two teams are very similar, “We are playing against a similar team and both teams are balanced. We are wishing to have a good game.”
“Kharaitiyat have good players and they did well in their last game. This game is much more balanced and the team that put in more effort will win,” added the Frenchman.
Speaking about the upturn in fortunes for his side Fernandez said; “My team has improved after the last season. From the start of the season we have improved in each game we have played and we are aiming for exactly the same in the coming games.”
“The league is still in the beginning stages and we still have a long way to go and right now we can’t predict anything because we lost only 6 points,” added the 62-year-old head coach.
Al Kharaitiyat, like their opponents, also have three points from three games. After narrowly losing their last game to Al Arabi they will be hoping to bounce back against Al Khor.
Amar Osim, the head coach of Kharaitiyat, echoed the sentiments of his counterpart, “They are a very good opponents, we have we respect them a lot. We played a lot of friendly games against them in the last couple of years and we share the same field. We are looking forward to this game.”
Speaking about Al Khor’s attacking threat in the form of Mouhcine Iajour and Madson , Osim added; “Al Khor are a difficult team to face, when the side has good attackers it makes it even more difficult. So it’s up to us if we can contain them and give them a tough time.”
“It is a special game for us as we know them very well and we share the same stadium and I feel this game is kind of a derby,” added the Bosnian tactician.

Fixtures
Al Khor vs Kharaitiyat 5:30pm
Shahania vs Gharafa 7:40pm