Al Sailiya take on title chasing Lekhwiya in the opening tie of the 22nd round of QSL action. The Peregrines come into the tie against Lekhwiya off the back of a last-gasp 2-1 win over Al Ahli. Tunisian coach Sami Trabelsi spoke to the media ahead of the game. 

Opening up the press conference Trabelsi noted his pride at how his side won last time out.“We won in a good way against Al Ahli, and showed plenty of heart. I think the players played well and full of motivation, my players gave everything in that match I am proud of them. We now need to continue that good vein of form against Lekhwiya.” 

“Lekhwiya have plenty of good, technical players and a good striker in Yusef El Arabi however they have problems in defence, the team is not equal in that sense. We are trying to exploit these weaknesses going into the game” added Trabelsi at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday morning. 

Trabelsi ended his press conference stressing that he was not paying attention to the Red Knights shock 3-1 defeat to Umm Salal last time out. “Lekhwiya has a big squad, and I think they went into the game in a relaxed way against Umm Salal. I am not taking their defeat at face value, we will not meet this Lekhwiya side on Thursday.” 

As for Lekhiwya, they head to Thursday evening’s match off the back of a impressive 3-0 win in the AFC Champions League. Head coach Djamel Belmadi gave his thoughts on the match to the local media. 

Belmadi opened up the press conference noting that the game could be crucial to his sides title chances.“It’s an important game for my side we cannot loose and it’s a crucial game in the race for the title we have to win.” 

“We have a short turn around in games from the Champions League and I hope that tomorrow we will be able to continue our good form against Al Jazira when we take on Al Sailiya” added the Algerian coach when asked about his sides league form, which has struggled in recent weeks.

Belmadi ended the press conference revealing that his side will be boosted by a returning player in central defence. “We have some players coming back in Chico Flores which will be a boost for us. We will try and find the right balance in this game with my squad, the important point is that we win and keep the pressure up on Al Sadd, who at the moment are ahead of us.”