Al Ittihad will be looking to extend their excellent run of form in the Saudi Pro League when they travel to the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium to face Damac on Monday afternoon.
With current league leaders Al-Hilal scheduled to play later in the day away to Al Qadisiyah, a victory for Al Ittihad will take them three points ahead of the Blue Waves at the top of the table.
Match preview
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After ending over 40 points behind Al-Hilal in their title defence last season, Al Ittihad are firmly back in the race for league glory this term, currently matching the reigning champions' record of 14 wins, one draw and one loss to date.
The People's Club enter this match following a 2-1 victory over Al Shabab last week, which extended their active unbeaten run to 12 games in the top flight, 11 of which ended in victory, with the exception being a 1-1 draw away to Al Fayha earlier this month.
Abdulrahman Al Obud opened the scoring for Al-Numoor last time out, while Karim Benzema scored what turned out to be the winner just before the interval, taking his tally to 12 for the season, one behind Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the goal-scoring charts.
That result also moved the title contenders to 39 goals for the season, while they have only conceded 12 to date - the second-fewest in the division behind surprise package Al Qadisiyah (11).
Laurent Blanc's side have taken 16 points from a possible 21 on the road this season, and are currently riding a five-match run without defeat (W4 D1 L0), dating back to their only loss of the campaign in mid-September.
Meanwhile, after a promising start to the New Year when they beat Al Raed 2-0 on the road, Damac are now hoping to avoid a third straight loss following defeats to Al Ettifaq (3-0) and Al Fateh (2-1) over the last couple of weeks.
The Knight of the South took the lead in their last match thanks to a Nicolae Stanciu goal in the second half, but they conceded two penalties late in the day, forcing them to drop points from a winning position for the second time in the last four games.
With that result, Nuno Almeida's side have won just one of their last five league games (W1 D1 L3), which is a notable downturn after only losing one of their preceding six matches between October and the back end of November.
Still, the hosts have been a difficult team to beat on their home patch this term, suffering just two defeats in their eight matches at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium, while they also beat this opponent 3-1 at this venue in this fixture last season.
Team News
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Damac will be missing at least three players for this match, with Tarek Hamed (knee), Sanousi Al-Hawsawi (muscle) and Adam Maher (cruciate ligament) all ruled out for the foreseeable future.
Georges-Kevin N'Koudou has scored eight goals in 16 games this season and should continue to lead the line in this one alongside Francois Kamano and Senegalese international Habib Diallo.
Al Ittihad received a few key injury boosts last week, with Steven Bergwijn, Abdul-Ilah Hawsawi and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi returning to the squad following spells on the sideline due to injury.
However, the visitors are still without Ahmed Sharahili (cruciate ligament), Abdulaziz Al-Bishi (hamstring), Abdulelah Al-Amri (torn muscle fibre) and Moussa Diaby, who is still working his way back to full fitness.
Damac possible starting lineup:
Nita; Solan, Chafai, Bedrane, Al-Anazi; Mohammed, Al Subiana; Stanciu; N'Koudou, Diallo, Kamano
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Al-Shanqeeti, Pereira, Kadesh, Mitaj; Kante, Fabinho; Al Obod, Al-Ghamdi, Bergwijn; Benzema
We say: Damac 1-2 Al Ittihad
While Damac are unbeaten in their last three home games against this opponent, Al Ittihad are carrying an excellent run of form into this match, and we feel the visitors will be come out on top in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
