Al Gharafa faces off against one of the QSL title favourites Lekhwiya in a crunch encounter. The match will be played at the Al Gharafa stadium this Saturday evening.

Al Gharafa lost their opening game of the league to Al Ahli 4-2, and they will put everything on the line to get the three points against Lekhwiya.

Pedro Caixinha, the head coach of Al Gharafa believes that Lekhwiya are one of the best sides in the QSL, “There is no doubt that we are about to face the best team in Qatar at the moment. They have proven this with the level of their performance, in there last match.”

Speaking about the last game Caixinha said that, “We made a lot of mistakes in the last game; we didn't defend well however we will try and come back in this game. This will be the first home game for us and we go into it knowing we are going to play the best team in Qatar but in football the best team doesn't always win.”

“Our first objective is clean sheet and score first and that’s always our plan,” added the Portuguese tactician as he laid out his plan for the upcoming encounter against a tough opponent.



Lekhwiya have made a dream start to the season first by winning the Sheikh Jassim along with a comprehensive 4-0 win in their opening match of the season. The Cops will be aiming for another strong performance against the Cheetah’s.

Djemal Belmadi, the head coach of Lekhwiya believes that Gharafa will fight back after their defeat. Our second against Gharafa will be tough and with a lot of international players in both teams. I know they lost the first game but this is more dangerous because they have a lot of tough players who can give a strong reaction.”

Speaking about his Qatari goal scorer, Almoez Ali , Belmadi said, “It was important to bring Moez back to the team as he is a great professional and I believe that he will be a key player for the national team. He is a hard worker and I love that in a player.”

“Yousef Al Arabi needs no introduction. He played in La Liga and he is a top scorer in Granada team he came here with a lot of ambition and his national team is going to qualify for the world cup and he will also play in the AFCON cup and I am sure he will score a lot of goals this season and we were missing this type of player,” added the Algerian head coach.