Hussien El-Shahat from Ahly vs Sundowns match in the CAF champions league (Photo: Ahly official twitter account)
Ahly are currently third in Group B with one point after two games while Coton Sport are currently bottom of the group without any points.
The 10-time African Champions are trailing South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns lead the group with seven points and Sudan's Al-Hilal who are second with six.
Therefore, Ahly need to secure a victory against their Cameroonian opponents in order to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
The Red Devils enter the match against the Cameroonian side, which was rescheduled from the first round of the group stage, missing the services of Mahmoud 'Kahraba' Abdel-Moneim due to fatigue as well as Hussein El Shahat, Mahmoud Metwalli, Ahmed Abdel-Kader, Amr El Sulaya and Khaled Abdel-Fattah due to injury.
However, Ahly Swiss coach Marcel Koller told reporters during the pre-match press conference that he is confident that Ahly can still put up a good performance despite the absentees.
“I do not think that Ahly will be affected by injuries. We have great players and a distinguished list. Bruno Savio and Ayman Ashraf have recently returned to training,” Koller said.
He also reflected on the team's shaky results following their participation in the Club World Cup in Morocco last month.
“I knew that there was a decline in the team's performance after every Club World Cup. Ahly are like any team in the world who are likely to drop in their level sometimes.”
Koller added that he believes that "Ahly must treat every game like a knockout game and that there is no alternative to winning."
Ahly have faced Coton Sport in six previous matches, winning four times and drawing in two games.
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