(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Lekhwiya will begin their Qatar Stars League (QSL) title defence with an away game against Al Gharafa in the second week of September, it was announced yesterday.
Al Sadd, who finished five points adrift of the Reds, travel south to play QSL rookies Mesaimeer while El Jaish face Al Ahli at the Abdulla bi Khalifa Stadium.
Qatar SC who finished fourth last season will be hosted by Al Kharaitiyat, Umm Salal go to Al Khor, Al Arabi play Al Wakrah and newly promoted Al Rayyan welcome Al Sailiya.
The league starts almost a month later than last season and the Sheikh Jassim Cup has been moved to the end of the first half of the campaign.
Looking at the fixtures, the big three (Lekhwiya, Al Sadd and El Jaish) all have relatively equal starts to the season. Things start to get interesting in round six when Lekhwiya will take on El Jaish at home.
Round 10 could turn out to be an early indicator of who will win the title race as Lekhwiya go to Al Sadd.
Then, in the final round of the first half of the season (round 13) Sadd will travel to El Jaish.
Al Sailiya Head Coach Sami Trabelsi will be under pressure from the kick-off this season after escaping the sack following a desperately disappointing campaign (the season before last, his side finished an impressive fourth in the league).
However, he faces a potentially tricky away tie in Round 1 against Al Rayyan who have bought well during the summer and will be looking to make an immediate impact after being promoted back up from the Qatar Gas League.
"The Torches" arrival in the Qatar Stars League is greeted with a home game against Al Sadd, perhaps one of the toughest starts to an opening day for a promoted side in recent years.
El Jaish too will be under pressure to make a strong start after a faltering season which saw them lose their Qatar Cup crown, finish third to Al Sadd and getting knocked out of the Asian Champions League. Sabri Lamouchi knows that this is a make or break year for him and the "Soldiers".
Qatar Sports Club will be looking to challenge once again for a top four finish but a lot of their hopes depend on their talismanic striker Hamdi Harboui staying free of injury. The Tunisian scoring the second most goals in the league (21 in 24 appearances).
Al Sadd have brought in legendary Barcelona midfielder Xavi and will hope that he is the final piece of the puzzle which will allow the Wolves to wrestle back the QSL crown off Lekhwiya, which has now eluded them for the past two seasons.
Lekhwiya have not made any big statements in this summer's transfer window (with regards to foreign signings), as they say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Instead they have recalled some players who were out on loan and have brought in a Head Coach (Djamel Belmadi) who originally got them promoted to the top tier of Qatari Football back in 2010.
However, with everyone around them buying big, the solitary signing of Mohammed Muntari might prove to be a little foolhardy come the end of the season.
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