Al Arabi who have brought in new head coach Daniel Carreño have got another tough match on their hands after losing last week to Al Sailiya (2-1).  They will play Qatar Sports Club at the Grand Hamad stadium this Tuesday at 18:30 in the evening.

At the beginningof the season Al Arabi excited many fans with their attacking football, unfortunately they seemed to have peaked too early and since round 8 their form has taken a significant dip.

Qatar Sports Club and Al Arabi have similar form going into the game but QSC have a better goal difference and have moved up the rankings recently. Qatar SC dismantled Al Wakrah in round 11 by putting an incredible seven goals past their keeper and then in round 12 they drew against a stubborn 10 man Umm Salal side (0-0).

Arabi lost 4-2 to Al Ahli and that cost head coach Petrescu his job, then last week again things went from bad to worse when the reds lost to Al Sailiya. 

Qatar Sports Club has 6 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses whilst Al Arabi has 2 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses this season. 

Key players  
For the Kings their star men are finally coming good, icentral defender Rafiq Halliche has been a towering presence who has done well since arriving in the summer and has even scored some goals. The midfield is patrolled by Korean Han Kook Yong who in round 11 broke the distance covered in a single match (for the last 4 seasons). The Korean ran an astonishing 14 kilometers! In attack their Tunisian talisman Hamadi Harbaoui is the league’s second top scorer with 10 goals from 10 appearances. 

For Arabi, the new Nigerian striker Imoh Ezekiel has been one of the shining stars with 5 goals in 10 matches played. Attacking midfielder Boualem Khoukhi, a product of the Aspire Academy is fully fit  once again and always manages to score important goals. Former Valencia winger Pablo Hernandez is back after a recent muscle strain, the Spaniard is one of the most gifted players in the league but has been inconsistent and needs to try and keep avoid injuries.

Match analysis
With both teams possessing potent attacks, the key to winning the match will be all about who has the better defense on the day. 

Al Arabi’s new head coach Daniel Carreño will be looking for his first win and perhaps might have to settle for a draw in what looks like quite an even match up in this round of the Qatar Stars League.