A keen contest is on the cards when Al Ahli host Al Sailiya in Week 17 of the QNB Stars League on Thursday, 21st February. The kick-off is at 17:50 at the Al Ahli Stadium.

Both teams are keen to end the season among the top four, so that adds more spark to the tussle. The difference between them is only one point.

Al Ahli made an important breakthrough when they jumped to the fourth position from fifth following their 2-1 victory over Al Kharaitiyat last week. The Brigadiers have 29 points (nine wins, two draws and five defeats). Their goal difference is +4 (27 goals for and 23 against).

Al Ahli are coached by Ruben de la Barrera and the Spaniard must be happy to have made a winning debut in Qatar after replacing Czech Milan Macala.

Al Sailiya, on the other hand, suffered a setback after the last round’s proceedings. The Peregrines, coached for long by Tunisian Sami Trabelsi, lost much ground after their 0-1 loss to defending champions Al Duhail. They slipped from third to fifth spot in the QNB Stars League table.

Al Sailiya have 28 points (nine victories, one draw and six defeats) with a goal difference of +10, having scored 27 goals and conceded seven).

Al Sailiya would like to put behind the disappointment of the slip-up. They will hope their Moroccan spearhead Rachid Tiberkanine recovers from his injury and also players like Majdi Siddiq and Abdelkader Ilyas deliver against the likes of Nigel de Jong, Mohsine Moutaouli and Abdulrahman Fahmy.