Adil Al Balushi
Muscat, Dec 6
Salalah giants Dhofar, Al Rustaq and Sohar will eye in moving closer to the league toppers Al Nahda as they will open the matches of the 12th week of Omantel League on Wednesday. The 11-time champions will meet Al Oruba at Al Saada Stadium and the match will start at 5:05 pm. Oman club will host Sohar in Seeb Stadium and the game will begin at 4:40 pm. Al Rustaq will take on Al Bashayer at Al Rustaq Sports Complex and the fixture will kick off at 7:10 pm.
Dhofar, placed in sixth place with 18 points, will aim to register their second successive win after their crucial triumph in the previous round against Al Rustaq 1-0. Awadh al Shahri, Yazeed al Mashani, Ali Salim, Abdullah al Musharafi and their team-mates will be the key players of Dhofar team to clinch another three winning points. Rivals Al Oruba would want to stop dropping the points after two defeats against Sohar and Bahla in the 10th and 11th weeks. The promoted club from first division league this season are suffering at the bottom as they have five points and placed in a danger zone in 13th position.
Third-placed Al Rustaq will meet Al Bashayer club at the former’s home. The southern Batinah team will seek to bounce back to the winning loop as they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Dhofar in the previous week. A win on Wednesday will take them to 24 points and any negative result for Al Nahda will make the gap between the teams to one point. Al Bashayer, on the other hand, will aim to leave the relegation zone in their debut season in Omantel League. The team suffered two losses in the previous rounds against Sur and Al Nahda. Any more defeats will put the team stuck to the danger zone.
Sohar will chase another triumph as they will meet Oman club in Seeb Stadium. The northern Batinah team’s win will raise them to 23 points and get closer to the league topper. On the other side, Oman club players will work hard to return back to the wining circle as they registered a thrilling win over Al Suwaiq in the 10th week before holding to a goalless draw against Al Nasr in the past week.
