Sports Tuesday, January 5, 2021 13 Al Duhail drawn to play Al Ahli in Amir Cup opener The 49th Amir Cup will kick off on January 25 with a match between Al Duhail and Al Ahli. The draw for the 16-team tournament was held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Monday. TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK Ritz Carlton Hotel on Monday. have a date with Al Khor while ing and Communications, emony with the participation Al Wakrah, Al Arabi and Qa- The 2021 Amir Cup is be- DOHA In other fixtures, Qatar Al Arabi will go head-to-head QFA, Ali Hassan Al Salat, of club officials. tar SC were placed in Group A ginning earlier than usual SC will take on Al Shamal, Al with Umm Salal. Head of Communication De- The draw for the 49th Amir as they are the top eight sides keeping in view the interna- THE 49th Amir Cup will Wakrah will play Al Kharaiti- The dates will be con- partment, Ali Hammoud Al Cup is based on the rankings in from the first division. tional engagements of the na- kick off on January 25 with a yat and Al Rayyan will face off firmed later Nuaimi, Head of the Com- the QNB Stars League and the Al Ahli, Umm Salal, Al tional team. match between Al Duhail and against Al Markhiya. The draw for the tourna- petitions Department and Second Division League of the Khor and Al Shahaniya were Last month, Al Sadd beat Al Ahli. Elsewhere, Al Gharafa will ment was held in the pres- Hamad Al Hajri, member of 2019-2020 season. slotted in Group B along with Al Arabi 2-1 at brand new 2022 The draw for the 16-team take on Al Shahaniya, Al Sadd ence of Khaled Mubarak Al the Competitions Committee Al Duhail, Al Rayyan, Al Al Kharaitiyat, Al Markhiya, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium to win tournament was held at the will play Muaither, Al Sailiya Kuwari, Director of Market- who conducted the draw cer- Sadd, Al Gharafa, Al Sailiya, Al Shamal and Muaither. the 2020 Amir Cup title. Milan hold upper hand in classic with teetering champions Juve DPA ROME The prospects for champions Juventus AFTER years of dominance, could be decided in the next couple of champions Juventus go into Wednesday’s Serie A classic at weeks as they tackle the two Milanese leaders AC Milan as underdogs. sides, who are battling at the top of the The Rossoneri are the only unbeaten side after 15 Italian Serie A. The duo hope to end the rounds and sit one point long supremacy of the Bianconeri ahead of city rivals Inter Mi- lan, while the Turinese are Match officials for fifth with a 10-point gap and a game in hand against fourth- placed Napoli. FIFA Club World Cup A 2-0 win at Benevento in Sunday’s year opener con- Qatar 2020 appointed firmed the solidity of Milan, who prevailed despite the dis- SC.QA Qatari official Khamis Al missal of Sandro Tonali and DOHA Marri will be one of the VMOs, with ace Zlatan Ibrahimovic while three officials from the still sidelined. THE FIFA Referees Committee United Arab Emirates will The Swede is unlikely to re- has announced the match of- participate in the tournament, cover by midweek, but versa- ficials who will officiate games including referee Mohammed tile full back Theo Hernandez during the forthcoming FIFA Abdullah Mohammed and as- is due back from suspension. Club World Cup Qatar 2020. sistant referees Mohamed Al “We don’t feel the pres- Seven referees and 12 as- Hammadi and Hasan Al Mahri. sure from the results of other sistant referees have been All the selected match of- squads and we compensate selected for the tournament, ficials will complete their -fi for absentees by playing as a along with seven video match nal preparations in Qatar the team. We’ll be on our game officials (VMOs) to operate the week before the first match also against Juve,” Milan boss video assistant referee (VAR) kicks off. In light of the COV- Stefano Pioli said. system. ID-19 pandemic, FIFA and the “We win because we have Three female officials will host country will provide the quality, but also because we Juventus’ Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his second goal during the Italian Serie A match vs Udinese at the take part in the tournament: required safeguards to protect put in the extra yards. And if Juventus Stadium in Turin late on Sunday. (AFP) Brazilian referee Edina Alves the health and safety of all in- we all continue on with our ef- Batista and assistant refer- volved in the competition. forts we can aim for ambitious career in August. first defeat of the season in a against Fiorentina. We must doria on Wednesday, when ees Neuza Back (Brazil) and The full match schedule goals.” Pioli has often said that The former star playmak- 3-0 home loss to Fiorentina to have confidence in our means the whole 16th round is being Mariana De Almeida (Argen- is available here. The draw to Juve are still the favourites to er twice won the Champions end the year. and always be determined to played. tina). The appointment of finalise the detailed pairings win a title that would be their League at Milan in a decade he A brace from league top get there.” The next two weeks Cagliari and Benevento the female trio continues the will take place in Zurich on 10th in a row, but his view closed with the Serie A title in scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, now will be crucial for Juve, who meet early before third-place path started at the FIFA U-17 Tuesday 19 January at 16:00 would possibly change should 2011; the following season he on 14 goals, stood out against after Milan tackle tough Sas- Roma visit Crotone and Napo- World Cup India 2017, where CET. he beat the rivals and leave moved to Juve, helping them Udinese, but the squad still suolo and are then due back li host Spezia. Swiss referee Esther Staubli The FIFA Club World Cup them 13 points behind. win the first four Scudetti in a failed to convince against the at the San Siro on January 17 Sassuolo v Genoa, Atal- officiated one game, followed Qatar 2020 will kick-off on Inconsistency, summed record run of nine. modest opponents. against Inter. anta v Parma, Lazio v Fioren- by Uruguayan referee Claudia Monday 1 February 2021 and up in a 7-6-1 record, has been On Sunday he lifted his “It was not the best Ju- The Nerazzurri drubbed tina, Torino v Verona and Umpierrez, who officiated two will culminate with the final Juve’s issue under Andrea Pi- morale with a 4-1 win against ventus,” Pirlo said. “We were tailenders Crotone 6-2 on Bologna v Udinese complete games at the FIFA U-17 World at Education City Stadium on rlo, who began his coaching Udinese, which followed the coming from a bad defeat Sunday and are to visit Samp- the programme. Cup Brazil 2019. Thursday 11 February 2021. Leicester can upset EPL established order, says Rodgers EPL Standings Club MP W D L GF GA GD Pts AFP their rivals in a wide-open ti- million ($96 million), £80m, who have returned from injury Liverpool 17 9 6 2 37 21 16 33 LONDON tle race, with just seven points £90m player -- but we can in and had an immediate impact, Man United 16 10 3 3 33 24 9 33 separating Liverpool and Unit- a football way.” scoring at Newcastle. Leicester City 17 10 2 5 31 21 10 32 LEICESTER have the potential ed from West Ham in 10th. Rodgers said his initial Maddison and Belgian in- Tottenham 16 8 5 3 29 15 14 29 to disrupt the dominance of By comparison, Liverpool goal is to qualify for European ternational Youri Tielemans’s Man City 15 8 5 2 24 13 11 29 the ‘Big Six’ in the English Pre- held a 27-point advantage over football next term. goal helped the Foxes to their Southampton 17 8 5 4 26 19 7 29 mier League (EPL), says Foxes the team in 10th place after 16 A loss of form at the end seventh win away from home Everton 16 9 2 5 26 20 6 29 manager Brendan Rodgers. games last season, as did Man- of last season cost Leicester a this campaign -- the most in Aston Villa 15 8 2 5 29 16 13 26 The Northern Irishman’s chester City at a similar stage Champions League spot but the Premier League. Chelsea 17 7 5 5 32 21 11 26 side lie third in the table af- in the 2017-18 campaign. they are into the knockout “We are playing with in- ter beating Newcastle 2-1 on Rodgers says that while stage of the Europa League af- tensity and a bit of swagger. West Ham Utd 17 7 5 5 24 21 3 26 Sunday. Leicester may be unable to ter topping their group. Newcastle felt the full force Arsenal 17 7 2 8 20 19 1 23 Leicester – who in 2016 compete financially with the “My ambition is to get into of a top-of-the-table Premier Leeds United 17 7 2 8 30 33 -3 23 became the only club from biggest clubs, they can make Europe again and for us to League team,” said Maddison. W Wanderers 17 6 4 7 18 24 -6 22 outside the ‘Big Six’ to win the their presence felt on the pitch.