ACL MD4: Al Ittihad vs Lekhwiya Preview

The Doha-based club, currently second in Group C behind Al Ain, defeated Umm Salal last Friday to win the Qatari league title for the third time in their five-year history.

However, influential forward Sebastian Soria has been ruled out of the fixture with Al Ittihad due to injury, while defender Mohamed Musa will miss the match through suspension after receiving his second yellow card in the competition in the 2-0 victory over Al Ittihad two weeks ago.

"The match tomorrow will be exciting because the two sides are both are strong teams and they are both looking to win. We are a professional side and we are ready for the match. We are not worried about fatigue from the heavy schedule,” said Gerets.

"We will be missing a couple of players but this doesn't mean that we don't have suitable replacements. The players are all motivated to win against Al Ittihad, who are a strong team and who have huge support from their fans."

With just three points separating the top and bottom of Group C, Al Ittihad, meanwhile, will be looking to carry momentum from their last Saudi league game - a 4-1 home victory over Al Shoalah - into the AFC Champions League.

The two-time ACL champions are currently bottom of the group, but a convincing win could send them top on goal difference.

Defender Hamad Al Montashari, though, will miss the match through suspension after he was sent-off in Doha, while midfielder Ahmed Al Fraidi has also been deemed not ready to feature against Lekhwiya.

“The match tomorrow against Lekhwiya will be very hard, but our ambition is to win the match and get the three points. We have two more matches at home and we are aiming to get the full points from our home matches," said Al Ittihad coach Khalid Al Koroni.

"We will be missing some players due to different reasons, but we have good players who can come in and deal with any match.

“We are confident that the players will show their best and get a good victory tomorrow.”