The QNB Stars League’s Week 4 fixtures on Friday, 31st August, are Al Sailiya vs Al Khor (17:10) and Al Ahli vs Al Gharafa (19:20) at the Khalifa International Stadium.

Two matches each will be played on Saturday and Sunday as well.

Al Sailiya vs Al Khor

Al Sailiya, who stormed into the third position in the QNB Stars League standings with a 2-0 win over Qatar SC for whom star recruit Samuel Eto’o made his debut, will be keen to sustain the momentum.

Al Sailiya’s Tunisian coach Sami Trabelsi is wary that the break will affect the rhythm of his players. Moroccan striker Rachid Tiberkanine leads The Peregrines’ charge.

Al Khor, coached by fellow Tunisian Adel Sellimi, are languishing at the 11th position in the table and are the only team, along with bottom-placed Al Kharaitiyat, yet to register a win. So the match-up promises to be exciting.

Al Ahli vs Al Gharafa

Al Ahli will be keen to make up for their 1-4 defeat to Umm Salal, while Al Gharafa will gain strength from their creditable 1-1 draw with Al Sadd in the previous round.

Both teams are targeting a top-four finish, so they cannot afford to drop points. That makes this clash the most notable among all six fixtures in Week 4.

Al Gharafa’s Muad Hassan and Thamer Gamal attended the team training sessions after recovering from their injuries. Muad Yahia, who was nursing an ankle injury, is also expected to be ready soon.

Tamim Al Muhaza and Ilyas Ahmed are also recuperating from injuries, the former straining his thigh muscle and the latter recovering from a surgery.

Similarly, Al Ahli will be bolstered by the return of  Khalil Sharif and Mohammed Reza from suspension and injury respectively.