Al Ahli vs El Jaish, 16:00



Al Wakrah vs Al Arabi, 18:45






Lekhwiya vs Al Gharafa, 18:45







 
Stage set for exciting battles in round 14
 
DOHA:  The first kick off on Tuesday, December 22, will be between Al Ahli and El Jaish. Ahli are in a big spot of bother having gone for six matches without a win, which includes three losses. They are coming off two consecutive losses against Lekhwiya (0-4) and Al Rayyan (1-3). And this will be their third tough match when they take on El Jaish on Tuesday.
 
The Soldiers were on a great run till they went on a losing spree of three matches. But in their previous round, they were able to put in a commanding second half performance to come from a goal down to defeat Al Sadd 4-2 and claim a morale-boosting victory.
 
El Jaish boast of a formidable attacking line-up with the likes of Abderrazzak Hamdallah, Romarinho and Sardor Rashidov. The trio have already scored 27 goals between them so far this season and will be keen to continue their run.
 
Scoring goals is one department in which Al Ahli is struggling this season. Last season they had Alain Dioko leading from the front. But this season their strike force, which is led by Mubele and Meshal Abdullah have not been able to convert their chances.
 
They have conceded more goals than they have scored – 16 vs 21.
Despite dominating possession in most of the matches, they haven’t been able to get positive results. Against El Jaish, they will have to increase their conversion percentage drastically if they want to take the three points.
 
MATCH OF THE WEEK
 
The second set of encounters will see Al Wakrah take on Al Arabi and Lekhwiya take on Al Gharafa in the ‘Match of the Week’.
 
This match will be crucial for Al Arabi. Gianfranco Zola’s boys are coming off a shock loss against Al Sailiya and would want to quickly put that behind them. Going into that match, Al Arabi were the favourites on paper, considering the performance they had shown that far.
 
However Sailiya produced a clinical performance to defeat Al Arabi 2-0. Zola will want his team to show a reaction to that loss by doing well in this match. Paulinho has been in good form for Al Arabi, having scored nine goals so far and they would be looking at him to provide the breakthrough in this match.
 
Their opponents, Al Wakrah, are coming off a 2-2 draw against Qatar Sports Club. Al Wakrah took the lead twice but could not hold on to it and ended up having to share the points. They are currently in 10th place and have a five-point gap to Qatar SC in 13th place but they would want to move higher up the table.
 
Al Arabi will hold the upper hand going into this match but if Sebastian Saez can provide them with an early goal then they could swing the result in their favour.