Two sides who have had a contrasting start to the 2024-25 Saudi Professional League campaign square off on Sunday as Al Ittihad play host to Al Fateh at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium.
While the Nadi Al Sha'ab could move into first place in the standings with a win, the visitors find themselves languishing at the bottom of the table and will be looking to snap their run of nine straight matches without a win.
Match preview
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Al Ittihad ensured they remained within touching distance of Al Hilal at the top of the Professional League standings in their final outing before the international break as they picked up a 2-0 victory over Al Orobah on November 7.
In a one-sided affair at the Al Jouf University Sports Stadium, Saleh Al Shehri opened the scoring in the 25th minute to hand the visitors a first-half lead before 27-year-old Steven Bergwijn doubled their advantage from the spot in the 52nd minute.
With that result, Al Ittihad have now won eight consecutive matches across all competitions since September's 3-1 loss against Al Hilal, a run which has seen them reach the quarter-finals of the King's Cup after brushing aside Al Ain and Al Jandal.
Off the back of a somewhat disappointing fifth-placed finish last season, Laurent Blanc's men have picked up 27 points from the first 10 Pro League matches to sit second in the standings, five points above third-placed Al Nassr and just one behind leaders Al Hilal.
Al Ittihad will be backing themselves to continue from where they left off before the break this weekend as they take on an opposing side who have lost their most recent four meetings and are without a win in their last seven since a 2-1 extra-time victory in the King's Cup back in March 2021.
Al Fateh, on the other hand, continue to struggle for results at the bottom end of the standings as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Al-Khaleej in their final outing before the break on November 9.
With nothing to separate the sides at half time, Abdullah Al Salem struck twice after the break to put Al Khaleej in a comfortable lead at the Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium before Mourad Batna scored a 99th-minute consolation for the hosts.
Al Fateh have now gone nine back-to-back games without a win across all competitions, claiming two draws and losing seven, including a disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of second-tier Al Jabalain in the King's Cup round of 32 on September 24.
Jens Gustafsson's men have managed just one win from 10 league matches while losing seven and claiming two draws to collect five points and sit rock-bottom in the table but could move into 15th-place with all three points this weekend.
Team News
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Abdulelah Al-Amri was forced off injured just before half time against Al Orobah last time out and the 27-year-old defender is a major doubt for Al Ittihad this weekend.
Should he fail to shake off the injury, former Portuguese international Danilo Pereira should come into the fold, teaming up with Mario Mitaj, Saad Al-Mousa and Muhannad Shanqeeti in the back four.
Karim Benzema has missed each of the last three matches through a muscle injury while the defensive duo of Fawaz Al-Sqoor and Luiz Felipe are currently recuperating from adductor and thigh injuries respectively.
Former Olympique Lyon man Houssem Aouar missed the game against Al Orobah last time out and is a doubt for Sunday's clash while Ahmed Sharahili remains ruled out through an ACL injury.
As for Al Fateh, veteran midfielder Mohammed Al-Fuhaid is a doubt for Sunday's matchup after coming off injured midway through the game against Al Khaleej last time out.
In his absence, Nouh Al-Mousa should return to the fray for his seventh start of the campaign, teaming up with Algerian midfielder Sofiane Bendebka in the centre of the park.
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Mitaj, Al-Mousa, Pereira, Shanqeeti; Fabinho, Kante; Bergwijn, Hawsawi, Diaby; Al-Shehri
Al Fateh possible starting lineup:
Szappanos; Baattia, Dohaim, Saadane, Al-Konaideri; Bendebka, Al-Mousa; Al-Anazi, Zelarayan, Sbai; Al-Shurafa
We say: Al Ittihad 3-0 Al Fateh
Al Ittihad will be licking their lips as they take on an out-of-sorts Al-Fateh side who have stumbled into the new campaign and find themselves languishing at the foot of the standings. Blanc's men have enjoyed the better of this fixture and we are backing them to make it five wins in a row against the visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
