The QNB Stars League’s Week 14 fixtures on Friday are Al Sailiya vs Al Markhiya (Al Ahli Stadium, 16:30) and Qatar SC vs Al Arabi (Qatar SC Stadium, 18:40).

Al Sailiya vs Al Markhiya

Al Sailiya, coached by Tunisian Sami Trabelsi, will perhaps be the most lucky side in terms of position in the standings. They stayed fourth despite going winless for five consecutive matches.

Trabelsi admitted at the pre-match Press conference that his players’ morale was low ever since they received a red card during their 0-1 loss to Al Khor in Week 9 on 24th November.

The match against Al Markhiya will be a good chance for The Peregrines to make a strong comeback. Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov, Wagner Ribeiro and Valentin Lazar lead their charge.  

Al Markhiya will go into the game with renewed vigour as they will be fielding new recruits from Brazil — striker Leonardo Henrique Santos de Souza and attacking midfielder Eric de Oliveira.

De Souza replaced Burkina Faso striker Alain Traore, while Oliveira came in place of Ghanaian forward Kwame Karikari, who moved to Al Arabi.

However, The Oryxes will miss captain Bilal Mohammed, out of action for almost five weeks with a muscle injury.

After Week 13, Al Sailiya, who lost 0-6 to Al Sadd, are on 20 points and Al Markhiya, who lost 0-1 to Qatar SC, have eight points.  

Al Sailiya had won 5-2 in the first phase.

Qatar SC vs Al Arabi

Qatar SC would be the side that gained the most after last week’s action as their lone-goal victory over Al Markhiya helped them jump from rock bottom to ninth position.

The Kings, on 11 points, sport a new look in the second phase after beefing up the roster with three recruits — strikers Patrick Fabiano from Brazil and Osama Omri from Syria as well as Iranian attacking midfielder Sijad Mujtaba.

They fielded all three in the last round and reaped rewards as Fabiano netted the winner.

Al Arabi are just behind them in the table with 10 points. They too underwent some changes in the ongoing transfer window by roping in defenders Hamad Al Harbi and Croatian Ivan Foster as well as Ghanaian striker Kwame Karikari from Al Markhiya.

Left-back Ali Aloub, signed from Al Kharaitiyat for one-and-a-half years, lends further solidity to The Dream Team, who ended the contract with Syrian striker Mardik Mardikian, who was hired at the beginning of this season.

Al Arabi, who lost to leaders Al Duhail 0-1 in Week 13, had won the first-phase match 2-1.