Al Arabi VS Al Gharafa, December 20, 4pm at the Grand Hamad stadium

Al Arabi coach José Daniel Carreño:
“It's going to be a difficult game. It's the last one before the break. We are playing a strong team and there is a big gap between the teams in the rankings table. But we have been preparing well for this match and I think that the players understand what I want from them.”   
 
“I can't talk about the previous results of the team as I wasn’t in charge. I can talk only about the time that I have been in charge of the team and we deserved to win those three games. We had good and balanced games but individual mistakes cost us the match unfortunately. We have got just one point from three games so the statistics are not in our favour but we will get this win and the vital three points.”
“We have slid down the table and we are a team with enough quality to finish higher.”
 


Al Gharafa coach Marcos Paquetá
“It's a very important round for Al Gharafa especially because we lost two games against El Jaish and Umm Salal. It's important to take three points and keep getting the results to achieve our target of a top-4 finish. Especially because our direct opponents Jaish and Umm Salal will play each other. Our target is to get back to winning ways.”
 
“We lost two games and lost with big margins. But we lost as an entire unit. We are not trying to look for any scapegoat. If you are pointing out to the defence as a problem, then that was affected because the midfielders didn't do well. And they were affected because the strikers didn't do well. We lost as a team and we have to collectively take responsibility. Losing can happen to any team. Sadd too lost to Al Shahania who is at the bottom of the table. We have to forget those results and focus on bouncing back.  Because that’s what good teams do.”