Al Wasl of the UAE will be eliminated from the AFC Champions League if they suffer a fourth successive defeat in Tuesday’s game with Group C leader Persepolis at Zabeel Stadium in Dubai.
Farshad Ahmadzadeh and Ali Alipour got on the scoresheet as Persepolis claimed a 2-0 victory over Al Wasl in Tehran last week to remain top of the standings at the midway point of the group stage.
According to AFC’s website, the loss was Al Wasl’s third in a row and, realistically, only a win on home soil will keep the hopes of reaching the next phase alive.
Persepolis will go into the encounter boasting a fine recent record against Emirati opposition, having won the last five games against sides from the UAE, and a sixth victory in succession would leave the Reds in a strong position ahead of the last two rounds of fixtures.
With Persepolis above Al Sadd of Qatar and Nasaf of Uzbekistan on goal difference alone going into to Matchday Four, Group C is already looking like a close finish awaits, with the top three locked together on six points in an intriguing battle.
Looking for First Victory
Tractorsazi Tabriz will be looking for the first win in Group A when they host Al Jazira of the UAE at Yadegar-e Emam Stadium on Tuesday.
The sides played out a scoreless draw in their first meeting a week ago in what was Tractorsazi’s first point of a campaign that had previously seen defeats to Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s Al Gharafa.
But with Al Jazira and Al Gharafa both just three points ahead of Tractorsazi and Al Gharafa away at group leader Al Ahli, victory for the Iranian team could put them right back into the hunt for last 16 qualifications.
