Al Rayyan will host Umm Salal in Week 17 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. The kick-off is at 9.30pm.

The contest is expected to witness a large audience presence especially with Al Rayyan now emerging as title contenders having risen to second place in the standings with a big 3-0 win over Al Wakrah in the previous round.

The Lions have a tally of 31 points, five points behind leaders Al Sadd, and ahead on goal difference from Al Gharafa, who are in third place.

Al Rayyan, under Portuguese coach Leonardo Jardim, will aim to continue their strong performances and achieve a fifth consecutive victory in the league championship.

Since losing 0-4 to Al Sadd on December 9 in Week 11 in the Qatar Clasico, Al Rayyan have come back strongly scoring four successive wins in the league. They have won against Al Markhiya 6-0, Al Shamal 2-1, Al Arabi 3-2 and Al Wakrah 3-0.

Although the team will miss the services of their player Andre Amaro, who was expelled in the last match against Al Wakrah, they will however regain the services of some of their other players which will help strengthen the team in this important match.

Al Rayyan are also counting on the fitness of their Moroccan star Achraf Bencharki, who has been performing admirably well in recent matches, and Roger Guedes, who has so far scored 14 goals and is competing strongly to be the top scorer in the league. Yacine Brahimi of Al Gharafa currently leads the tally with 17 goals, while Akram Afif of Al Sadd has scored 16 goals.

Meanwhile, Umm Salal are looking forward to record their sixth win of the season and also to compensate for their 3-4 loss to Al Shamal in the last round - which was also their first loss since returning from the break and after two matches where they tied with Qatar SC 1-1 and then beat Al Ahli 2-1.

Umm Salal are in seventh place in the standings with 19 points gained from five wins, four draws and six losses. They would not want to suffer another defeat and their French coach Patrice Carteron would be counting on many distinguished names in his squad, such as Oussama Tannane, Marouane Loudani, and Lucas Joao, who joined the squad in the winter transfer window. They have presented outstanding levels in attack since joining the team in addition to Victor Lekhal, Kenji Gorre and goalkeeper Landing Badji.