Al Shamal face Al Markhiya in Week 17 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Al Bayt Stadium on Monday, March 11, 2024. The kick-off is at 9.30pm.

The match is an opportunity for the two teams to strengthen their positions following their positive results in the last round. Both sides enter the match with the goal of winning, obtaining the valuable three points and taking steps forward, away from relegation and the zone of ​​complicated calculations.

Al Shamal are currently in ninth place with 15 points, while Al Markhiya are 12th with eight points. The small difference in points between them will ignite the struggle to move forward in the rankings table.

Al Shamal have an improved morale and enthusiasm after achieving a valuable and crucial 4-3 victory over Umm Salal in the last round, which will give their players the confidence to continue and advance – given the continuous chase with more than one team.

Al Shamal coach Poya Asbhagi will count on the good morale of his players to overcome a fighting Al Markhiya. The coach relies on his team’s top scorer Ricardo Gomes, who scored a hat-trick in the last match against Umm Salal, Younes Belhanda, Matias Nani, Omid Ebrahimi and Jeison Murillo.

As for Al Markhiya under the tutelage of Madjid Bougherra, they will be looking to achieve more distinguished results after their victory over Al Wakrah and draw against Al Duhail in the last two games. Another positive result may see Al Markhiya wriggle out of the bottom place.

Al Markhiya mainly rely on Tilal Ali, Yusupha Nije, Driss Fettouhi, Bashar Resan, Ruben Semedo and other players.