Al-Sadd conclude preparations for Umm Salal clash, Xavi announces squad

Al-Sadd held their final training session on Friday, in preparation for the next game against Umm Salal in Round 15 of the QNB Stars League.

The match will kick off at 4:45 PM on Saturday evening at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Al Gharafa Club.

Al-Sadd go into the game sitting in third place in the table with 30 points, while Umm Salal are in the 12th position with 9 points. The first phase match between the two sides ended in Al-Sadd winning 2-1.

After the final training session on Friday, head coach Xavi Hernandez announced the matchday squad which consists of the following 18 players: Saad Al-Dossari, Meshaal Barsham, Abdulkarim Hassan, Yasir Abubakar, Marco Fabian, Faisal Abdullah, Akram Afif, Muhammad Waad, Pedro Miguel, Tarek Salman, Baghdad Bounedjah , Hamed Ismail, Mustafa Meshaal, Gabi, Jung Woo-young, Hashem Ali, Nam Tae-hee, Hussam Kamal

Later, the Wolves left for an overnight camp at the Al-Messila hotel, from where they will leave for the match on Saturday.

The squad announcement witnessed the absence of Hassan Al-Haydos, after he suffered a foot injury in the last game against Iranian side Sepahan match, which ruled him out for two and a half months. Also, Abdulaziz Al-Ansari misses out as he hasn’t recovered completely. Khoukhi Boualem is also ruled out due to accumulation of bookings, after receiving his fourth yellow card in the last league game against Al Sailiya.

The match against Umm Salal will see the first appearance of new Mexican signing Marco Fabian in the Al-Sadd squad for a QNB Stars League game, after the attacking midfielder made his debut with the Wolves in the Ooredoo Cup against Qatar SC.