2012 Asian Champions League Group C is made up of AL AHLI (Saudi Arabia), AL NASR (United Arab Emirates), LEKHWIYA (Qatar), and SEPAHAN (Iran).

Al Ahli
The Saudi season is 20 games old so far and Al Ahli is sitting in second position, three pints clear of third and one point behind first. So far they have achieved 15 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss. Al Ahli has good form coming into this year’s competition. Whilst the group looks quite balanced, I can see Al Ahli with a good chance of competing against traditional heavyweights of Al Nasr and Iran’s Sepahan.

Al Ahli last competed in the competition in 2010 and managing 3rd in the Group A. They will aim to do one better this year.

Al Nasr
The Emirates league is 14 games old with Al Nasr sitting in second, 5 points off the passe. With eight wins and two losses, Al Nasr have some form although it might not be as consistent as that of Al Ahli above.

Al Nasr hasn’t competed in the Asian Champions League for a few seasons at least. It will be interesting to see if they can take some points away from the other contenders. Based on their domestic performance as well as their lack of previous experience, it might be a struggle for them.

Lekhwiya
With 15 games already played in the Qatar domestic season, Lekhwiya is sitting on top of their table with ten wins and two draws, that is 4 points ahead of second. Lekhwiya hasn’t played in the Asian Champions League before or atleast not in the past 3 – 4 seasons. Their domestic form however should assist them to put in a competitive performance however inexperience may also play a big role.

Sepahan
Sepahan has competed in the Asian Champions League several times already. They would be considered the most experience in Group C. Domestically Sepahan is leading the 2011/12 Iran Pro League with 52 points, made up of 15 wins and 7 draws. They sit 5 points clear of second at the moment.

Sepahan have actually competed in the last 3 competitions, finishing 3rd on two occasions and topping Group A last year. Last year they progressed to the Quarter Finals losing to Al Sadd from Qater, the eventual winner.

I see Sepahan winning this group this year followed by Lekhwiya in second.