Aiming to bounce back to winning ways and remain at the top of the Saudi Pro League table, Al-Hilal will welcome Al Okhdood to Kingdom Arena on Friday.
The hosts suffered just a second league defeat of the season on Monday, while their visitors also lost last time out after moving out of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Al-Hilal return to Kingdom Arena on Friday aiming to strengthen their standing at the summit of the Saudi Pro League, having suffered a rare defeat last time out in their title defence.
The Blue Waves went unbeaten in the domestic top flight last time around to win their 19th title, and they have enjoyed a strong first half to the 2024-25 campaign too, currently sitting top of the table having amassed 43 points from their first 17 outings.
That is largely down to their perfect home record thus far, having won each of their eight league matches at the Kingdom Arena, scoring 30 goals and only conceding seven along the way, while Jorge Jesus's side also top their AFC Champions League group after six rounds of fixtures.
Following an away defeat in November, the Riyadh outfit moved into top spot with a run of five straight wins around the turn of the year, culminating in 5-0, 9-0 and 4-1 beatings in January, but they were unable to make it six on the bounce away at third-placed Al Quadisiya on Monday, despite drawing level at 1-1 through Marcos Leonardo in the 50th minute, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang snatched all three points for the hosts with his second goal of the game in injury time.
Somewhat let off by second-placed Al-Ittihad also suffering a defeat on Monday, Al-Hilal remain top of the Saudi Pro League on goal difference, but with their lead over third and fourth spots reduced to six and eight points respectively, they will be keen to rebuild a winning run and pull clear starting on Friday.
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They meet a visiting side in search of three important points in their own battle at the other end of the division, as they bid to move clear of the relegation zone.
After avoiding the drop by a single point in their first-ever Saudi Pro League campaign last time around, Al Okhdood again endured a tough start to the 2024-25 term, picking up just two wins and nine points from their first 12 outings and sitting in the bottom three as a result.
They have since shown signs of improvement and leapt out of the drop zone, though, adding two more notches to that wins column in the last five attempts, both of which have come away from home as they firstly beat Al Wehda 3-2, only to suffer defeats to Al-Nassr and Al Fayha in the new year.
A trip to Al-Raed then followed, and Stjepan Tomas's side returned to winning ways in a 2-0 triumph thanks to goals from Sebastian Pedroza and Christian Bassogog, before most recently hosting Al Khaleej on Sunday and falling to a 10th league defeat of the campaign, with a Khaled Al-Samiri own goal coming too late to force a turnaround after Saleh Aboulshamat and Mohamed Sherif had the visitors 2-0 up.
Despite that setback, Al Okhdood have jumped out of the bottom three in the Saudi Pro League thanks to their recent results, but still only leading Al Orubah in the drop zone by a single point, they will aim to build on their cushion with what would be a statement result away from home on Friday.
Team News
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Al-Hilal are expected to remain without star striker Aleksandr Mitrovic, who has missed their last four league games through injury after hitting 60 goals in his first 67 appearances for the club since his arrival last season.
Also unable to call on Neymar, who departed earlier in the week having not featured in the Saudi Pro League this term, Jorge Jesus should again deploy a front three of Salem Al-Dawsari, Malcom and Marcos Leonardo, who moved onto 16 goals for the season in Monday's defeat.
Key men Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ruben Neves will continue their partnership in the midfield, while Renan Lodi and Joao Cancelo will offer further quality and threat in wing-back roles.
Almeria loanee Ibrahima Kone could return from the outset to lead Al Okhdood's attack on Friday, having served a suspension last time out after being sent off late on in their 2-0 win over Al-Raed.
He will hope to rejoin Saviour Godwin and Christian Bassogog up top, while Knowledge Musona could also come back into the midfield having netted four goals so far this term, leaving him level with Bassogog at the top of their scoring charts.
Meanwhile, mainstays Sebastian Pedroza and Petros will continue in the engine room, while Naif Asiri remains a key man in the middle of the defence.
Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:
Bono; Tambakti, Koulibaly, Al Bulaihi; Cancelo, Milinkovic-Savic, Neves, Lodi; Malcom, Leonardo, Al-Dawsari
Al Okhdood possible starting lineup:
Vitor; Khamis, Asiri, Lowe, Al-Saeed; Pedroza, Petros, Musona; Godwin, Kone, Bassogog
We say: Al-Hilal 3-0 Al Okhdood
Despite their recent setback and the loss of Mitrovic, Al-Hilal should still have the quality throughout their ranks to bounce back with a comfortable home victory on Friday.
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Sam Varley
