The 2019-20 QNB Stars League is back after a space of three weeks. The Week 15 matches will be played on Thursday, 20th February, Friday, 21st February, and Saturday, 22nd February, with two matches on each day.

The fixtures are Al Shahania vs Al Arabi (16:45, Al Arabi Stadium), Al Ahli vs Al Gharafa (18:55, Al Ahli Stadium) on Thursday, Al Khor vs Al Rayyan (16:45, Al Khor Stadium), Qatar SC vs Al Sailiya (18:55, Qatar SC Stadium) on Friday, Umm Salal vs Al Sadd (16:45, Al Gharafa Stadium) and Al Duhail vs Al Wakrah (18:55, Al Duhail Stadium) on Saturday.

During the break, the teams played in Amir Cup pre-quarterfinals and Ooredoo Cup quarterfinals.

The battle had hotted up at the top, middle and bottom of the QNB Stars League standings after Week 14. The most prominent highlight was leaders Al Duhail’s shock 0-1 defeat at the hands of Al Rayyan. It was The Red Knights’ first loss in this season’s league championship. Yet, they stayed on top with 33 points even as Al Rayyan bridged the gap with them after moving on to 31 points.

Al Sadd stayed third in the table with 30 points after beating Al Sailiya 3-0 and cut their margin with strong title contenders Al Duhail from six points to three.

Al Gharafa (24 points) retained the fourth position despite being held goalless by Qatar SC.

Al Shahania (12th with eight points) will play Al Arabi (fifth with 19 points) in the opening game. That will be followed by Al Ahli (eighth with 17 points) vs Al Gharafa.

Al Ahli and Al Gharafa had faced off in the Ooredoo Cup quarterfinals last week and the former progressed to the semifinal with a 1-0 victory.

Similarly, Al Khor (10th with 10 points) will run into Al Rayyan, to whom they lost out in sudden death (6-7) in the Ooredoo Cup quarterfinals. The score was level 1-1 at the end of regular time and 5-5 after tie-breaker.

Friday’s second match will pit Qatar SC (ninth with 16 points) against Al Sailiya (seventh with 17 points).

Umm Salal (11th with nine points) will play holders Al Sadd in Saturday’s first game, followed by Al Duhail vs Al Wakrah (sixth with 19 points).