Al Rayyan face Al Gharafa in the opening match of Week 7 of the 2023-2024 season of Expo Stars League on Saturday, October 28, 2023, at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium of Al Rayyan club. The kick-off is at 5.30 pm.

The two teams enter the match with the utmost desire to win after achieving victory in the last round and each of them will be trying to overcome the other in order to continue their progress.

Al Rayyan are topping the standings with 15 points, while Al Gharafa are in third place with 13 points, the same with Al Sadd, who are second with a superior goal difference.

The two-point difference will ignite the confrontation between The Lions and The Cheetahs, as both teams have a clear advantage and capabilities that can enable them to showcase a high-intensity match.

The encounter also takes centre stage in view of the strong performances of both sides this season.

Al Rayyan defeated Umm Salal 2-0 in the last round and they want to continue their victories and maintain their leading ranking, especially since the morale of the players is high after regaining their winning touch in the last round.

Al Rayyan coach Leonardo Jardim will seek to ride on the euphoria of the recent victory to maintain the team’s position at the top even though Al Sadd having a postponed match in hand against Al Arabi.

Despite this, ambitions and desire will definitely prevail among the Al Rayyan players, who always go into the match with Al Gharafa with caution.

Jardim will be counting on the good performance of such players as Bassam Al Rawi, Roger Guedes, Rodrigo Moreno, Achraf Bencharki, Abdulaziz Hatem and Fahad Younes.

Meanwhile, Al Gharafa will be relying on a number of their star players, most notably Algerian attacking midfielder Yacine Brahimi, the league’s top scorer, Ferjani Sassi, Yohan Boli, Amro Seraj and Farid Boulaya.

Al Gharafa got back to winning ways with a major victory over Muaither (5-2) in Week 6.

The encounter is of great importance to both teams and their fans as a victory for either of them may constitute a morale booster during the next stage of the league.