The two-time champions defeated Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima in their opening game, but suffered a 3-1 loss to Daegu FC on Matchday Two to leave them three points adrift of the Korea Republic side.

Guangzhou maintained their perfect start to the Chinese Super League season on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over city rivals Guangzhou R&F, making it four wins from four as they kept pace with table-toppers Beijing FC.

An Edgar Silva brace and a goal from Kim Dae-won helped Daegu defeat two-time winners Guangzhou Evergrande 3-1 on Matchday Two as they followed up their victory by the same scoreline over Melbourne Victory in perfect style.

The visitors go into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw against Seongnam FC on Saturday that leaves them in fifth position in K League 1 ahead of the double header against Sanfrecce.

A recent poor run that included a defeat to bitter rivals Persepolis was not the ideal preparation for a difficult-looking Group C clash against Saudi Arabia powerhouse Al Hilal, but Tehran giants Esteghlal rose to the occasion to secure a priceless win - their first of the 2019 edition - and stay in contention in the race for the Round 16.

As the group stage gets set to reach its midway stage, the-AFC.com has picked out five things to look out for ahead of the Matchday Three fixtures.

The Saudi side came into the encounter chasing their first points of the campaign, having lost both their first two matches, while Al Zawraa needed a win to end the first half of the group stage in top spot.

Coming off the back of their heaviest-ever AFC Champions League defeat, Al Wasl were looking to recover from their 5-0 humbling at the hands of Al Zawraa. Meanwhile, Zobahan looked to extend their unbeaten record this campaign to three games.

Groups E and G are first up when the eight sides take to the field on Tuesday, before the remaining teams in Groups F and H follow suit a day later.