The QNB Stars League Week 19 fixtures on Saturday are Qatar SC vs Umm Salal (Qatar SC Stadium, 18:00) and Al Arabi vs Al Markhiya (Al Arabi Stadium, 20:10).

Qatar SC vs Umm Salal

Qatar SC, on 18 points, have a tough task on hand when they are up against Umm Salal (27 points).   

Umm Salal are keen to be in the fourth place. For that, The Orange Fortress cannot afford any slip-ups as Al Gharafa are going strong and have two points more than them.

Al Gharafa benefited greatly from the Qatar Football Association’s Disciplinary Committee decision to award them a 3-0 win against Al Markhiya.

Al Gharafa had lost the game 2-3, but the result was overturned after The Oryxes had breached the rule regarding fielding resident players in the QNB Stars League matches.

Umm Salal had beaten Al Sailiya 1-0, while Qatar SC had lost 0-4 to Al Rayyan last week.

Qatar SC got a shot in the arm as Brazilian striker Patrick Fabiano, who had a long injury layoff after signing for them ahead of the second phase, is ready to play.

The teams had played out a 1-1 draw in the first phase.

Al Arabi vs Al Markhiya

Al Arabi received some confidence boost with their third win, 2-1 against Al Kharaitiyat, and will look to build on that when they face Al Markhiya.

It will be hard for Al Markhiya to stay motivated following the decision to overturn their victory over Al Gharafa for breaching the rule regarding fielding resident players in the QNB Stars League matches.

The Oryxes had hopes of avoiding relegation after prevailing over in-form Al Gharafa, that too after being down by two goals. In fact, they had punched way above their weight.

Now, they face a daunting task in their fight for survival.

Al Arabi are also in the danger zone and Luka Bonacic’s men must pull up their socks if they want to stay afloat.

Their first-phase match had ended in a 1-1 draw.