The late kick off on Thursday will be at 18:30 in Al Arabi stadium and will see Kharaitiyat travel to Al Arabi looking to pick up their third win of the season.

However Al Arabi is a new look side since last year and could prove hard to beat. Luck hasn’t always been on their side as they have now played 3 of the last 7 games with just ten men. If they can keep all 11 men on the pitch they will undoubtedly be able to climb even higher this season.

The absence of their captain Boualem Khoukhi though will be a blow as they take on Kharaitiyat at home.


Al Arabi Head Coach Gianfranco Zola
“It's a league which has become more competitive. Every game is getting more and more important. After we have played Lekhwiya, Rayyan and Sadd, now we have a match that is not as difficult in terms of personnel. Kharaitiyat, with all due respect, is not on the level of those three teams. But it will be a difficult match. Players have done well against the bigger teams. But suddenly when they come up against a team that is not at that level, players will take it easy. And that's dangerous for the team. From my personal experience with Chelsea, one season we lost the title because we lost matches that we should have won. We defeated Arsenal, Chelsea and then lost to Sunderland and West Ham. So it's down to players to find the motivation to play a team that's not as strong as our three recent matches and get the three points that will be very important.”

“We will miss Boualem & Traore, they are both out.”

“We know how important Boualem is for us. He is an influential player, he's our captain. We are disappointed for Dame Traore. He wanted to play but to come up with an injury against Sadd is sad for him. It could have been his moment. For tomorrow's match we tried some solutions to replace Dame and Boualem. I believe a lot in the team. I know that with Boualem we are a strong team. But we showed against Sadd that we can still do well.”



Al Kharaitiyat Head Coach Amar Osim
“It will be a very difficult game. But all the games have gotten more difficult this year. As I have been saying, teams are stronger than last year and more solid. It will be a difficult game for us especially since we are playing a strong team like Arabi.”

“They look much more dangerous than last year. They have brought in a few players, and a new coach and their formation. Well, they changed everything. And it is working for them. Even though they have had very difficult games - Rayyan, Sadd and Lekhwiya, they have shown their potential.”

“They are a very good team with the potential to become like those big teams that they played against recently. In three of those games Arabi have played with 10 players. I think quite soon they can be at the same level as the top clubs. They have fans which is an advantage for any club here. They are a big club in Qatar.” 

“The structure of the league is such that you have two teams, usually the promoted teams, who struggle. But right now one of the teams that were promoted (Al Rayyan) is at the top of the table.”

“So, all teams will struggle more this season. And the first seven rounds have shown that. So you can see that it will be difficult for teams like us.”

“We have to get Abdel Fattah scoring regularly like last season. This year he scored two goals and we took points in both those games. We hope that he works hard and will improve and vice-versa. He will help the team to get better.”