Al Ittihad had won their previous encounter against Lokomotiv on Matchday Three thanks to an added-time penalty from Fahad Al Muwallad.

The winger was again the dangerman for the Saudi side. His 10th-minute corner kick found Brazilian forward Romarinho in plenty of space inside the Lokomotiv box, and the former Al Jazira striker converted the opener.

Lokomotiv looked to respond through Temurkhuja Abdukholikov, whose curling effort from the edge of the box went just over the crossbar three minutes after.

Having crossed the halfway line of the group stage, Matchday Four sees the sides that faced-off two weeks ago trading places with the reverse encounters kicking-off the second half of Groups A to D in West Asia.

Two-time runners-up Al Hilal have reached the knockout stages nine times in the past 10 years, but they were eliminated in the group stage last year.

Coach Zoran Mamic’s men fell to a 2-1 defeat to Esteghlal in Doha two weeks ago, after starting their Continental campaign with back-to-back victories over Al Ain and Al Duhail. Meanwhile, Esteghlal’s win came after an opening day 3-0 reversal at Al Duhail and a 1-1 draw with Al Ain.

The two sides met three times in the past 12 months in the competition, and Al Ain are yet to get a win in three attempts. Al Duhail emerged triumphant on both occasions in the 2018 round of 16, brushing aside the Emiratis with a scoreline of 8-3 on aggregate.

Two weeks ago, Al Duhail were unable to defend a two-goal lead in Doha as Jamal Maroof and Marcus Berg clawed back the difference for Al Ain and the tie ended in a 2-2 draw.

With some teams looking to secure their places in the knockout rounds at this early stage and others aiming to keep their qualification hopes alive, the-AFC.com has picked out five things to look out for.

Zobahan are yet to lose a game in Group A, and a third consecutive win could take their tally to ten points. Should Al Zawraa defeat Al Nassr in the other Matchday Four fixture, the ten points will be enough for the Iranians to officially progress to the knockout stage.

Coach Alireza Mansourian’s men had come from behind to seal a 3-1 win at the Zabeel Stadium in the reverse fixture two weeks ago.

Al Zawraa still occupy a qualification spot despite their defeat in the reverse fixture. The Iraqis had not lost nor conceded a goal prior to their trip to Riyadh a fortnight ago. Their first home match saw a crowd of over 27,000 fans.

Al Nassr, on the other side, finally kickstarted their Continental campaign with an impressive 4-1 victory over Al Zawraa two weeks ago, but they still find themselves bottom of the group with an inferior head-to-head record against third-placed Al Wasl.