Al Shamal face Esteghlal on Tuesday, 3 November, after recording their first AFC Champions League Elite victory against Al Hilal in the previous round. Esteghlal are looking to respond to their first defeat, as outlined in AFC’s preview published on 2 November.
A point separates two different records
The pre-round standings show Esteghlal with six points from two wins and a defeat, having scored five goals and conceded three. Shamal have five points from one win and two draws, with four scored and two conceded. The Qatari side are consequently unbeaten but still trail opponents who have won more matches.
The Basra fixture is listed for 18:00 in Jerusalem, corresponding to 19:00 in Iraq and Qatar, on the match card. A Shamal win would take them above Esteghlal in points, while an Iranian victory would produce a nine-point total. These are pre-match possibilities, not a completed result. Keeping the different win-and-draw patterns in view explains why the unbeaten side is not currently the higher of the two in the table.
Archival cover photograph: Archival photograph: Basra International Stadium; not an image of the current event. Photographer/creator: Yesar Al-Maleki. Image source and metadata; CC BY 3.0. The Wikimedia-supplied file is used without raster edits. Image date as recorded by the source: 2013-10-13 00:26:55.
