Preview: Kharaitiyat Vs Umm SalalAl Kharaitiyat coach Amar Osim may have to endure sleepless nights going into the final round of the Qatar Stars League (QSL) this week. Hovering just above the QSL relegation zone, Al Kharaitiyat must produce a win against 5th-placed Umm Salal when the two sides clash in the final round of the 2015-16 campaign.
A loss for Al Kharaitiyat on Friday may allow 13th-placed Qatar SC to claw out of the relegation zone providing they can win against Al Wakrah to avoid the relegation and send Osim's boys to the Qatar Gas League.
Two losses and three draws against just one win in the last six QSL games have clearly hurt Osim's aspirations in the last few weeks of QSL this season. However, a 3-0 win against Al Wakrah last week would have delighted Al Kharaitiyat fans as Hassan Abdul Fateh scored two goals in what was only the seventh win for Osim's team this season.
But victories for Al Kharaitiyat have been hard to come by especially in 2016, they have only registered one prior to the Al Wakrah result way back in February a 3-0 score line against bottom-placed Mesaimeer.
Osim's boys, however, will draw confidence from the fact that they beat Umm Salal in their first leg in December when Al Kharaitiyat beat Umm Salal 3-0 back in December. A brace from Yahia Kebe and striker Hassan Abdel Fateh was enough to down the Orange Fortress and Amir Osim will want a similar performance from his striking duo.
For Umm Salal, coached by Bülent Uygun, a win on Friday could produce their 10th victory of the season in which they should have done better. Uygun's team will be ruing the fact they have shared points in 11 matches this season against just five losses with two of those coming in the last four weeks, effectively halting their quest for a Qatar Cup place.
Umm Salal’s faint top 4 aspirations where ended when they went down 2-1 to El Jaish in a feisty contest last week when Abdulrazzaq Hamadallah fired in two penalties to seal the win.
With a top-four finish out of their grasp even if fifth-placed Umm Salal win and fourth-placed Lekhwiya lose, Uygun's boys will know a victory on Friday would prepare the side well ahead of the start of the Emir Cup later this month.
Though Lekhwiya has lost 10 matches compared to Umm Salal's only five but Uygun's side has leaked goals far too regularly to let go hopes of finishing in the top-four this season. The goal difference between Umm Salal and Lekhwiya is fairly dramatic as the later has scored 36 goals and conceded an astonishing 32 in their 25 matches.
Uygun will be hoping Mounir El Hamdaoui continues with his goal-scoring form of the last two matches as Umm Salal seek a winning end to their season that could have landed them a top-four finish in QSL.
It promises to be a engrossing game when relegation threatened Al Kharitiyat take on high-flying Umm Salal on Friday the 15th of April at Al Khor stadium, KO 18:15.
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