With the action beginning in the West Zone on Monday and coming to a close in the East Zone on Wednesday, the-AFC.com highlights five things to look out for in the days ahead.

On February 4th, 2018, Sardor Rashidov ended a two-and-a-half year stay in the gulf to return to his native Uzbekistan, joining Tashkent based Lokomotiv.

“I achieved a lot at El Jaish; it is a club where I improved as a player and learnt how to score from different positions on the pitch, I scored over 30 goals and helped the club win titles” reflected Rashidov on his time in Qatar.

“Qatar is an incredible country; staff are friendly and extremely tactful to the demands of the team. When I came to Qatar, I was young, but in El Jaish, I grew up as a human and as a player.”

Branko Ivankovic’s side knew a win would mean their 11th title, while Esteghlal, 19 points adrift of the leaders, were determined to impress.

Esteghlal had the majority of possession, but neither side ventured much into the attacking third in the opening minutes of the match at the packed Azadi Stadium.

Both sides took turns exchanging attempts but a minute from the break, Mame Babe Thiam took a shot from inside the box which was blocked by the Persepolis defence but Ghafouri latched on to the stray ball and made no mistake with a left-footed strike for Esteghlal to take the lead.

The sides in Groups A and C are first up when they take to the field on Monday, while those in Groups B and D will take their turn a day later.

The Islamic Republic of Iran side began their campaign in fine fashion, defeating Nasaf 3-0 in Tehran, but were well beaten by Al Sadd in a 3-1 loss on Matchday Two. Persepolis, though, are strong at home, having not lost at Azadi Stadium since the 2012 group stage in a run that has now reached eight games.

Al Wasl have endured a difficult start to their first AFC Champions League since 2008, with Al Sadd coming from behind to claim a 2-1 victory in their first game and Nasaf defeating them in Uzbekistan two weeks ago.

Should the Emirati team come away from Tehran without a positive result, knockout stage qualification would be unlikely. Midfielder Ali Salmin is ruled out through suspension after picking up bookings in Al Wasl’s opening two games.

Note: The Persepolis run at home does take into account that they did not play in Iran against Saudi Arabian teams last year, and the statistic only includes matches played at Azadi Stadium.

Recent signing Mehdi Taremi scored his second and third goals of the current campaign in a 3-0 victory over Tractorsazi Tabriz two weeks ago as Al Gharafa recovered from their opening-day loss to Al Jazira to put their first points on the board.

Al Ahli have begun the competition strongly, winning two from two, with goals from Taiseer Al Jassam and Mohannad Asseri – his second match-winner in as many games – helping the Saudi Arabian side to a 2-1 victory over Al Jazira on Matchday Two.

A third win in a row would edge Al Ahli towards knockout stage qualification, while defeat would see the sides level on points. The last meeting between the pair, in the 2013 group stage, ended in an entertaining 2-2 draw in Doha.

The Emirati side defeated Al Gharafa 3-2 in their previous home match to bring an end to a 15-game winless run and will seek another strong performance in front of their own fans, although they will be without the suspended Mbark Boussoufa.

Tractorsazi, meanwhile, are rooted to the bottom of the table, having lost their opening game to Al Ahli and then being defeated 3-0 by Al Gharafa on Matchday Two. The Iranian team, who have Mohammad Iranpourian suspended, are still looking for their first point and goal of the campaign.

Al Jazira and Tractorsazi last faced off in the 2016 group stage, with the side from Tabriz winning 4-0 at home before claiming a 1-0 victory in Abu Dhabi as they advanced to the knockout rounds as table-toppers while the Emirati team were eliminated.