Al Suwaiq came into the match on the back of a nine-match losing run in the AFC Cup that stretches back to May 2012 when they defeated Jordan’s Al Faisaly 3-2. Al Ahed were, meanwhile, unbeaten in the 2019 edition, having collected five points from their first three matches.

Sitting third in Group G coming into the clash, the Vietnamese side were looking to repeat their success from Matchday Three when they defeated Shan United 2-1 in Yangon.

They were on the front foot early and took the lead in just the fifth minute when captain Nguyen Anh Duc opened the scoring after a nice piece of build-up play between Vo Hoang Quang, Tong Anh Ty and Mansaray.

A Philippines international, Kaya skipper Bedic scored the club's first goal in this year's Continental campaign in a 1–1 draw against Lao Toyota, before then scoring the second goal in a stunning 5–0 win over defending ASEAN Zonal champions Home United last month.

A late equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw at PSM Makassar a fortnight ago, and - with an intriguing return meeting in prospect - the 28-year-old forward spoke exclusively to the-AFC.com in the build-up to the clash at Pana-ad Park and Football Stadium.

It's fair to say that Kitchee's home opener in this year's AFC Cup did not go at all to plan.

Two goals down to Hong Kong Premier League title rivals Tai Po after 50 minutes of play at Mong Kok Stadium, the Blues rallied to level the scores only to concede twice more in the game's dying minutes.

And things do not get any easier from there with a tough test away against 2018 East Asia Zonal champions 4.25 SC.

After the first set of games, Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol lead the way in Group D, Bangladesh’s Abahani Limited Dhaka do likewise in Group E and both 4.25 SC of DPR Korea and Hong Kong’s Wofoo Tai Po are on maximum points in Group I.

The two sides entered the match level on points, with four each. Kuwait SC held a relative advantage having secured a 1-0 win in the reverse fixture in Bahrain.

Kuwait SC’s first chance came before the 15-minute mark through Faisal Zayed who got on the end of an Abdullah Al Buraiki cross, but his header went inches wide off the post.

The Jordanian side came into the match with seven points from three matches, having eased to a 4-0 win over Al Ittihad in the reverse fixture two weeks ago, a result that left the Syrians bottom of the group with one point going into Matchday Three.