AFC Cup Preview: Al Shorta v Al Qadsia

The Syrian champions have given themselves a good chance of progressing, having earned a hard-fought 0-0 draw in the first leg of the tie in Kuwait.

They had a certain degree of luck to thank for coming away with a clean sheet, after striker Bader Al Mutwa missed a seventh-minute penalty for the hosts.

That leaves the tie finely balanced ahead of the return encounter, but ahead of their away trip, Al Qadsia will at least be buoyed by the fact that when these two teams met in the group stages earlier in the competition they ran out winners.

Al Qadsia and Al Shorta progressed to the knockout phase after finishing first and second respectively in Group D, with the Kuwaitis claiming a 2-0 win away and suffering a 1-0 defeat at home.

But the 2010 runners-up will have to be at their best to reach the last four, although they can call on the presence of one of the tournament's top attacking threats.

Despite his high-profile spot-kick miss, Al Mutwa has scored nine goals thus far in the AFC Cup this year, a record bettered by just two players.

And, having netted in the teams' group-stage meeting, he will be keen to atone for his first-leg error to fire Al Qadsia into the semi-finals.