With places in the knockout rounds to be decided across the continent in the days ahead, the-AFC.com picks out five things to look out for ahead of what promises to be an exhilarating week of action.

With just four of the 12 teams having had their eliminations confirmed, eight sides in three groups will battle it out for the right to advance to the knockout rounds.

Top spot is up for grabs in Group F while the first two positions in Group H remain open, while only Group G has been decided ahead of the final round of fixtures.

FC Istiklol, JSW Bengaluru and 4.25 SC will all look to extend their leads at the top of their respective groups when the action resumes on Wednesday.

Air Force came out of the blocks racing but missed three glorious chances within the first 15 minutes. The most clear-cut came when skipper Hammadi Ahmed attempted to finish from close range following Mustafa Mohammed's pass, and beat goalkeeper Abdulkarim Fardan, but watched his strike ricochet off the post.

Three minutes later, Emad Mohsin broke the deadlock with a cute finish from a narrow angle. The winger took advantage of the rebound after Ahmed's header from Humam Tariq's cross was blocked by the defender and composedly finished into the bottom corner.

Hashim Isa and Israa Hamwia were at the heart of everything Malkiya did to restore parity, and indeed the duo combined for the equaliser in the 77th minute.

Isa battled to win back possession inside Air Force Club's penalty area before laying off a pass to Hamwia who struck low for his third goal of the 2018 AFC Cup, earning Malkiya their seventh point.

The result means the Bahraini side now have seven points ahead of Matchday Six's clash with group leaders Al Jazeera who have 11 points. Air Force Club's title defence will now hang on them getting a result in the final matchday against bottom side Al Suwaiq from Oman.

I want to say that after scoring four today and having netted a hat-trick in this beautiful stadium already, I really feel at home here. To the fans - the Jak Mania - thank you so much for your support.

Four-goal hero Marko Simic salutes the Persija Jakarta faithful after he dominated the headlines with a superlative performance in the 4-0 win over Johor Darul Ta'zim.

Jordan’s Al Jazeera thought they had won it when they scored with two minutes to go, but they were clawed back with effectively the last kick of the ball to settle for a repeat of their Matchday One draw against Iraq’s Air Force Club.