Perhaps one of the most important fixtures of the season, round 17 sees Lekhwiya (1^st ) against El Jaish (3^rd).  The match will kick off at 19:15 on February 13^th at the Abdullah bin Khalifa stadium.

Although the gap between second and third is big with 9 points separating El Jaish from Al Sadd, the latter failed to beat Al Wakrah in the previous round (2-2) and so this clash is a good opportunity for the Soldiers to gain some vital ground on the top two.

If El Jaish can secure the win then they will be only six points behind second placed Al Sadd and 8 points behind the league leaders Lekhwiya. However they will be facing their toughest test yet as Lekhwiya has only lost once this season and that was to Al Sadd back in round 4 (3-0).

Lekhwiya and El Jaish have a fierce rivalry and since getting promoted they have both dominated the league with Lekhwiya winning three league titles and El Jaish often coming up just short as runner up. With regards to their last 5 clashes in the league Lekhwiya has won three times to Jaish’s two.

Last week El Jaish overcame a tough Al Arabi side winning 2-0 but this was largely due to the sending off of Ahmed Fathi.  Lekhwiya on the other hand had to placate a second-half Gharafa fight back as they held out for the win (3-2).

So far this season Lekhwiya has played 16, won 12, Drawn 3 and lost only once, whilst El Jaish has won 9, drawn 1 but lost 6.

2015 Asian Champions League
However El Jaish will have another big test before the weekend’s Qatar Stars League fixtures as they will be involved in the first round of qualification matches for the 2015 Asian Champions League (ACL).

El Jaish will confront Al-Nahda (Oman) in in Doha on the 10^th of Feb 2015 and if they win then they will play against Naft Tehran FC (Iran) in Tehran on the 17^th of the same month. 

The ACL group stage will kick off on the 24^th and 25^th Feb (match day 1). So this will be a tough period for the Soldiers as they balance QSL and ACL commitments.

Friday the 13^th!
The match will take place on a supposedly unlucky day, who will come out on top? The match is likely to be separated by a single goal unless a player is sent off. This game is of more importance to the visitors as a loss will surely mean that the league becomes a two horse race.

Make sure to come and see a high quality encounter between two of the fiercest rivals in a derby that has plenty of suspense and drama.