Thursday, 19th September, 2019

16:50 kick-off at Al Janoub Stadium

Al Arabi and Al Shahania will open the fourth-round action in the 2019-20 season QNB Stars League.

Both teams go into the match against an entirely different backdrop.

Al Arabi are riding high as they occupy the top position in the table with seven points (two wins and one draw). The Dream Team climbed from the third spot with a 5-1 win over Umm Salal. They have the same number of points (seven) as Al Gharafa, but had the advantage of goal difference (+6 as against The Cheetahs’ +5).

Al Arabi, coached by Icelander Heimir Hallgrimsson, had defeated Al Ahli 3-1 in the opening round and then held formidable Al Duhail to a 1-1 draw.

On the other hand, Al Shahania are lying at the very bottom of the 12-team table and have yet to open their account, just like Qatar SC.

So, it is a contest between the top team and bottom team.

Al Arabi will be keen to extend their good run, while Al Shahania, under the tutelage of Spaniard Jose Murcia, badly need a positive result following a spate of defeats.

Al Arabi are having such a strong start to the season probably after many seasons. They had strengthened their squad in the pre-season and are a rejuvenated lot. And that reflects on their performance. The dominant display against Umm Salal underlined this fact.

Tunisian Hamdi Harbaoui, who is among the top scorers of QNB Stars League with five goals, leads Al Arabi’s challenge along with Icelandic midfielder Aron Gunnarsson and Mohamed Salah El Neel among others. They had recently recruited Qatari star Khalfan Ibrahim.

Al Shahania’s hopes rest mainly on Dutchman Nigel de Jong, Iranian Ramin Rezaeian, Kesse Amangoua and Saleh Al Yahri.