After a two-week break, the Saudi Pro League will resume this Friday evening, with Al Ittihad taking on Al Fayha at the Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium.
The hosts are currently in fourth place in the league standings with 43 points after 24 matches, while the visitors are eighth with 32 points over the same period.
Match preview
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March has been a difficult month for Al Ittihad, although the bulk of their pain over the last five weeks has been inflicted by Al-Hilal, whom they faced and lost to in three of their last five matches across all competitions.
During that time, they were dumped out at the quarter-final stage of the AFC Champions League by the Blue Waves 4-0 on aggregate and suffered a 3-1 defeat to them in the league at the start of the month.
However, aside from those results, the People's Club have been impressive in the top flight since the turn of the year, winning five of their six matches in 2024 and scoring two or more goals in each of those games.
The most recent of those victories came in their last outing away to Al Fateh, when Abderrazak Hamdallah's brace either side of strikes from Jota and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi pulled Marcelo Gallardo's side within four points of third-placed Al Ahli, who lost to Al Nassr the previous day.
Al Ittihad have won all three of their matches at Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium this year and will fancy their chances of extending that to four in a row here, having beaten this opponent fairly convincingly by a 3-0 scoreline in the King's Cup back in November.
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Meanwhile, Al Fayha have experienced an uptick in form since their exit from the AFC Champions League last month and will head into gameweek 25 unbeaten in their last five league games.
During their current run, Al-Burtuqali notched up four consecutive wins over Al Hazm, Abha, Al Raed and Al Shabab before they were held to a slightly disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Al Riyadh last time out.
Against RIY, Henry Onyekuru gave Vuk Rasovic's side the lead in the first half, but their lead was wiped out by a Knowledge Musona strike just after the hour mark, which was Al Riyadh's only shot on target across the entire 90.
While the hosts are the clear favourites heading into this fixture, the visitors cannot be ruled out entirely, as they have been very good on the road this season, currently riding a three-match winning streak and boasting the joint-fourth best away record in the division to date.
Team News
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Gallardo will have to contend with several issues in his backline, with Abdullah Al-Jadani and defenders Ahmed Sharahili and Ahmed Bamasud still unavailable due to injury.
The fresh blows to the defensive unit include Madallah Al-Olayan, who will not be eligible for selection, having been sent off against Al Fateh, and Luiz Felipe who was withdrawn after just 20 minutes with an injury in the same match.
Karim Benzema has not featured for Al Ittihad in their last four league games and remains a doubt for this match, which should see Hamdallah continue to lead the line flanked by Jota and Romarinho.
Al Fayha will be able to welcome back centre-back Husein Al Shuwaish for this one, following his three-match suspension for the straight red he received against Abha at the end of last month; Mohammed Majrashi is the only listed injury absentee for the visitors.
Onyekuru is now level with Fashion Sakala on 10 goals each this season and the duo are likely to line up in a three-man frontline alongside Fiorentina loanee Abdelhamid Sabiri.
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Al-Maiouf; Al Hawsawi, Al Yami, Hegazy, Kadesh; F. Al-Ghamdi, Kante; A. Al-Ghamdi, Romarinho, Jota; Hamdallah
Al Fayha possible starting lineup:
Al-Deqeel; Al Baqawi, Al-Rashidi, Alqaydhi, Konan; Al-Safri, Zaydan, Al-Harthi; Sakala, Sabiri, Onyekuru
We say: Al Ittihad 2-1 Al Fayha
While Al Ittihad are likely to remain without their French international Karim Benzema for this match, Abderrazak Hamdallah has stepped up in a big way and will be looking to add to his 17-goal tally for the season in this one. Al Fayha deserve to be respected here but we feel the hosts will edge the result by the odd goal.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
