Al Sadd's coach Xavi Hernandez speaking during a press conference yesterday.
Doha: Title-holders Al Sadd will be extra cautious when they take on hosts Al Wakrah as the 12th round of the QNB Stars League (QSL) kicks off today.
The match kicks off at 4.10pm.
The Xavi Hernandez-led Wolves beat the same opponent 4-1 in their first leg encounter in the opening round of this season's QSL.
Al Sadd's Spanish head coach yesterday said that they have a 'difficult game' against Al Wakrah but his men are fully prepared to face the challenge.
Speaking at a press conference on the eve of the match, Xavi said: “We will have a difficult game against Al Wakrah. We know we will face a very strong team. They have an excellent coach who knows his players very well, but we are fully prepared to get the win.”
He added: “I do not know whether (Cristian) Ceballos will return to play with Al-Wakrah or not, but the rest of the players are of the highest calibre. On paper, we are the favourites. We are coming on the back of a big win over Al Gharafa in our best game of the season. But our performance on the pitch is what will help us get a positive result.”
Both teams will have some absentees who are doing duty for Qatar in the AFC Under-23 Championship, to be held in Thailand from 8th to 26th January, 2020. It is also the qualification tournament for next summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
Xavi also said that all his players are ready for action.
“All the players are ready for tomorrow’s game. Only the three Olympic team players are missing. Training has gone well and everyone is in working hard to get a spot in the starting eleven. I will work on choosing the best suitable line-up,” Xavi said.
Meanwhile, Al Wakrah coach Marquez Lopez said his team has improved a lot since they last met the reigning QSL champions.
“Our team has undoubtedly improved from the time we played against Al Sadd in the first leg. We want to get a good result against our opponents, who are a great team. We’re looking to beat Al Sadd," a confident Lopez said during a press conference yesterday.
“We lost important points against Al Arabi, Umm Salal and Al Rayyan. Our team had to be a little lucky. Had we not dropped those points, our position in the table would have been different. But this is football.
Al Wakrah are ninth in the standings with 12 points following three wins, as many draws and five defeats. The Blue Wave have scored 16 goals 20 goals have been scored against them so far.
Al Sadd are currently occupy the fourth position with 18 points, playing two matches less than the rest of the top-four occupants.
Their matches against Al Arabi (from Week 5) and Al Khor (from Week 7) were deferred due to their AFC Champions League engagements.
Al Sadd will play Al Arabi on January 6 and Al Khor on 21.
Xavi's men have recorded six wins and lost three. They have a goal difference of +9 (26 goals for and 17 against).
Later this evening, Al Ahli face Al Arabi in the second fixture of the day at the Al Ahli Stadium. The match kicks off at 6.20pm.
