AFC Champions League Two Preliminary Stage East Bengal FC's Rival Watch: Al-Arabi SC

The Red & Gold Brigade will face the Kuwaiti side on the 12th of August.

East Bengal FC have a huge chance to secure their place into the group stages of the 2026-27 AFC Champions League (ACL) Two, when they face off against Kuwaiti side Al-Arabi SC in their preliminary round qualifier on Wednesday, 12 August (2026).

The Red & Gold Brigade need to win this single-match knockout clash to book their place in the prominent Asian competition and know that losing it would force them to play in the AFC Challenge League.

In Al-Arabi, however, East Bengal are poised to face a formidable opponent and a team with rich history at their backing in Kuwaiti football. After they finished second in the Kuwait Premier League in the 2025-26 season, as well as winning the Kuwait Crown Prince Cup, Al-Arabi are also determined to play in the AFC Champions League Two for the first time after playing in the AFC Challenge League in the last few years.

With both sides being equally motivated to earn a place in the AFC Champions League Two group stages, this upcoming clash should be a thrilling one at the Salt Lake Stadium – as here we look at what can be expected from Al-Arabi SC.

About the Team

Al-Arabi SC are one of the oldest football clubs in Kuwait, having been formed in 1953 – initially as Al-Uruba SC before changing their name to Al-Arabi SC in 1960. They have been playing at the top of the Kuwait football scene for over seventy years now and have enjoyed a lot of success in terms of winning silverware over the decades as well.

Indeed, Al-Arabi even have a nickname of ‘The Castle of Trophies’ because they have won 64 official trophies in their history – more than any other Kuwait club in history.

They have achieved a number of notable feats over their history, including being the only Kuwaiti team yet to lose a game at the Kuwait Super Cup and also having reached the Kuwait Emir Cup final more consecutive times (11 times in-a-row from 1962-1973) than any other club.

Al-Arabi have won the Kuwait Premier League title 17 times and they are also the first club from the country to have competed in the AFC Cup. The Greens have played in the Asian Club Champions, AFC Champions League, AFC Cup and of course the AFC Challenge League – even reaching the semifinals of the Challenge League in the 2024-25 season.

With that being said, as they have never played in the AFC Champions League Two since it was remodelled a few years ago, that remains a priority objective for the Kuwaiti heavyweights – who will be determined to defeat East Bengal to earn that right.

Head Coach

Just prior to their key AFC Champions League preliminary qualifier against East Bengal, Al-Arabi had acquired a new coach in the form of Croatian gaffer Goran Sabilic. The former Croatian international had a pretty decent playing career where he even played for Dynamo Kyiv, before retiring from the beautiful game towards the end of the 2000s.

Sabilic has been coaching since 2013, having spent the majority of his coaching career working in Croatia itself and having had stints coaching the RNK Split side in the past. He even coached Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol in the 2018-19 season, while his most recent stint before taking up the Al-Arabi job was as the head coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina club Velez Mostar.

Sabilic’s best stint in his coaching career was at Sheriff Tiraspol, where he had a 60% win rate in the one campaign he was part of. He even helped the Moldovan club win the Moldovan National Division in 2018, making them play some attractive attacking football in scoring 64 goals from their 35 matches and having a +40 goal difference in that period as well.

For the Croatian gaffer, the East Bengal match will be the first competitive match that he manages Al-Arabi – who have only played a few friendly matches as part of their preparatory camp for this upcoming lash. The 47-year-old is known for preferring a generic 4-2-3-1 formation, giving his players enough leniency and flexibility to be able to interchange positions to trouble their opponents.

He also prioritizes keeping a strong defensive shape, which includes a strict defensive line and midfielders often coming in deep to help protect the backline.

Sabilic’s attacking style often encourages movement down the wide areas, opting to move the ball forward quickly and having a very direct attacking style to catch his opponents by surprise – which is exactly what they will try against East Bengal.

Players to Watchout

Hassimi Fadiga

The player likely to spearhead the Al-Arabi attack in the East Bengal clash is their French forward, Hassimi Fadiga. The 29-year-old joined the Kuwaiti club in 2025 and has been a pretty prolific forward for them, having scored six goals in 14 appearances for them in the 2025-26 season.

Fadiga has many years of experience under his belt, having even played for French club Le Mans as well as Bulgarian top division side Levski Sofia in his career.

Fadiga is a pretty versatile attacking player, who can operate in a variety of different roles for his side, and he will look to be a thorn for the East Bengal backline.

The 29-year-old boasts impressive acceleration with the ball and off-the-ball movement, which he’ll aim to utilize to disrupt the opposition backline. East Bengal will definitely need to look to mark Fadiga smartly, because giving him too much open space can easily allow him to finish off chances efficiently or set things up to give his side the upper-hand.

Bandar Al-Fadhel

A player who has been a really loyal servant for Al-Arabi SC is their winger Bandar Al-Fadhel, who has been associated with the Kuwaiti side since 2016! Indeed, Al-Fadhel has over 200 appearances for Al-Arabi over the years and he has also made 14 appearances for the Kuwait national team, scoring two goals at the international level.

Al-Fadhel can be a really tricky winger to manage and he’ll look to give his side the upper hand in the upcoming AFC Champions League Two preliminary qualifier.

He’ll look to utilize his experience to outwit the defenders with his clever movement down the wide areas, as well as look to drift in centrally as much as possible. Al-Fadhel will definitely need to be decisive with his crosses or shots on goal to uplift Al-Arabi’s attacking threat and make them difficult to deal for East Bengal.

What to expect from Al-Arabi SC

As Al-Arabi are still adapting to the system and style of their new head coach Goran Sabilic, they will probably not be the most stylish or fluent with their playing style. The Kuwaiti side are aware of the dangers that East Bengal can bring in playing in front of their vocal, devoted supporters at the Salt Lake Stadium and they’ll definitely be pragmatic to respect the Indian side.

However, Al-Arabi will not be parking the bus in this clash and look to be a tenacious side for the reigning Indian Super League (ISL) side to deal with. Goran will be urging his players to work hard with their pressing and physicality to try to make things as difficult for the East Bengal players as possible and try to get an upper-hand in the game from the get-go.

He’ll urge the players to be quick in recovering possession and then kick-start dangerous counter-attacking chances to catch East Bengal off-guard.

They might also be reliant on creating chances from wide areas with dangerous crosses for their forwards inside the box and look to capitalize on any moments of lapses from the Indian side. It should be a pretty hard-fought battle between East Bengal and Al-Arabi, and only the grittier and more clinical side will come out as the winner.

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