Abha play host to Al Khaleej on Thursday knowing only a win will do if they wish to move outside of the Saudi Pro League relegation zone.
Meanwhile, Al Khaleej make the trip to the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium sitting in 11th position in the standings and having already guaranteed their top-flight status for another 12 months.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having finished down in 12th place during 2022-23, Abha's objective for the new campaign was to kick on towards a place in the top half.
Instead, a failure to record successive victories since the start of November has led to the Leaders of the South staring at relegation to the second tier.
To their credit, four points have been collected from their last three fixtures, a run that includes a 3-1 victory at home to Al-Ittihad.
However, losing 5-1 at Al-Ahli last time out has put Pitso Mosimane's and his team in a position where they must win at least one of their remaining two matches.
With bottom-placed Al-Hazem still to come, all is not lost for Abha, but success in this contest would put them in a favourable position come the last day.
As for Al Khaleej, they have enjoyed an improved campaign, comfortably avoiding relegation through their consistency during the middle part of the season.
More recently, though, Pedro Emanuel's side have put together a seven-game streak in all competitions without a win, suffering four defeats in that period.
Although ninth position is still a possibility, Al Khaleej may need to prevail in their final two matches to make that a possibility, the other game taking place against 14th-placed Al-Riyadh.
On a positive note, a 1-1 draw was posted against Al-Ittihad in their most recent fixture, while just three goals have been conceded in their last three league contests.
Team News
With Abha having been competitive against Al-Ahli before any changes were made, Mosimane is unlikely to make many changes to his starting lineup.
Nasser Al-Omran may be considered for an opportunity in central midfield, with Ziyad Al-Sahafi potentially dropping out.
Saleh Al-Qumayzi could also return at right-back, but the remainder of the side may stay the same.
Meanwhile, Abdalellah Hawsawi and Ivo Rodrigues were both withdrawn through injury when Al Khaleej faced Al-Ittihad last time out.
Mo Adams is on standby to deputise in the engine room, depending on Emanuel's strategy, while Fawaz Al-Terais is an option to feature in a creative role.
Abha possible starting lineup:
Tatarusanu; Naji, Noguera, Tisserand, Al-Zubaidi, Al-Shammeri; Al-Ali, Al-Sahafi, Krychowiak, Kamano; Djordjevic
Al Khaleej possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Al-Hamsl, Jung, Lopez, Rebocho; Hamzi, Adams, Al-Terais; Narey, Sherif, Martins
We say: Abha 1-2 Al Khaleej
With Abha scrapping for survival, we expect this contest to be evenly-fought for the most part. However, Al Khaleej could take advantage of the home side's inferior defence at some stage, proving decisive as they look to move into the top half of the table.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
