The QNB Stars League Week 18 fixtures on Sunday are Al Sadd vs Al Ahli (Al Sadd Stadium, 16:50) and Qatar SC vs Al Rayyan (Qatar SC Stadium, 19:00).

Al Sadd vs Al Ahli

Al Sadd are keeping pace with leaders Al Duhail with 43 points. The 2017-18 season QNB Stars League title race has boiled down to the duo, so The Wolves will not want a slip-up.

They had beaten Al Arabi 5-1 last week, while Al Ahli had lost 0-1 to Qatar SC.

Al Sadd had also completed back-to-back wins, over the UAE’s Al Wasl and Iranian champions Persepolis, in the AFC Champions League. The outstanding form of Algerian striker Baghdad Bounedjah, who had scored two goals in each of those matches, augur well for Portuguese Jesualdo Ferreira’s side.

Captain Xavi Hernandez, Jugurtha Hamroun, Hassan Al Haydous and goalkeeper Saad Al Dossari all can pose big threat to the rivals.

Al Ahli know pretty well that they have a Herculean task on hand. Their coach George Jorge reiterated that they have chances to move up and also to go down if they do not perform to their potential.

The Brigadiers will have attacking midfielder Yassine Chikhaoui and striker Mohammed Muntari back in action even as they will miss midfielder Ali Qaderi due to suspension.

Lack of consistency in performance is a big problem for them of late.

Al Sadd had won 2-1 in the first phase.

Qatar SC vs Al Rayyan

Al Rayyan, third with 36 points, have the disappointment from their last two rounds to put behind when they travel to Qatar SC, who are on 18 points.

The Lions had dropped four valuable points in the last two rounds following their 0-2 defeat to Al Sadd and 2-2 draw with Al Sailiya, and were out of reckoning for the QNB Stars League title.

However, coach Michael Laudrup stressed that they would be keen to win all the remaining matches as each victory boosts the players’ confidence to a great extent.

Al Rayyan have Abderrazaq Hamdallah (13 goals), Rodrigo Tabata (11) and Sebastian Soria (10) in their ranks.

On the other hand, The Kings are eyeing a hat-trick of wins and going through their best time this season. They had beaten Al Sailiya 2-0 and Al Ahli 1-0 last week, with Syrian striker Osama Omari scoring all three goals.

The return of Brazilian striker Patrick Fabiano, after a long injury layoff, will give Qatar SC a shot in the arm.   

Al Rayyan had won 2-0 in the first phase.