Fresh off winning their 16th Saudi Pro League title, Al Hilal travelled to Qatar aiming to continue their seamless start to the continental campaign.

The two sides have registered full marks in their opening two games of the group, with defending champions Al Hilal beating Shahr Khodro FC 2-0 and Shabab Al Ahli 2-1 while Pakhtakor started with a 2-1 win over Shabab Al Ahli then swept aside Shahr Khodro 3-0.

Both Al Hilal and Pakhtakor are their respective nations’ most successful sides. Al Hilal regained the Saudi Pro League title from archrivals Al Nassr to become champions for the 16th time, while Pakhtakor ended a four-year Lokomotiv dominance to win their 12th title.

The first of two Monday fixtures in the group sees the Mashhad-based side in pursuit of a first goal in the competition as well, having lost their AFC Champions League debut to title holders Al Hilal SFC 2-0, then succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Uzbek champions Pakhtakor FC on Matchday Two.

After each of the group teams played two games back in February, Al Hilal and Pakhtakor hold a relative, yet early advantage, with both having collected six points from their opening fixtures.

It will come as no surprise that a number of Al Hilal's tournament-winning side made the line-up after their impressive displays throughout and they are joined by four other standout performers from the most recently completed competition.

Below are the 11 players voted by the public on the-AFC.com, while an XI by OPTA, the official statistics provider for the AFC, is also included as a comparison.

Having looked at some of the finest goalscorers in the tournament, we turn our attention to a group of stars who are set to be the focal points for their sides to build their success around over the next few weeks.

We analyse six strikers who have already played a part in this season’s edition of the competition, and have also performed admirably in their clubs’ domestic campaigns.