Al-Taawoun and Al Ittihad get round 10 of the Saudi Arabian Professional League underway when they square off at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium on Friday.
The Wolves, who have won their last four matches across all competitions, will be looking to pick up where they left off before the international break and move top of the league table this weekend.
Match preview
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Al-Taawoun continued their impressive early-season form as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Al Tai when the sides locked horns at the Al Taawon Club Stadium on October 5.
In a one-sided affair, Musa Barrow, Joao Pedro and Spanish midfielder Alvaro Medran all found the back of the net to hand Laurentiu Reghecampf's men a fourth straight defeat.
With that result, Al-Taawoun have now won each of their last four matches across all competitions, including a 2-0 victory over second-tier Al-Qadisiyah in the round of 32 of the King's Cup on September 24.
Pericles Chamusca's side have now won seven of their opening nine matches while picking up one draw and losing once to collect 22 points and sit second in the league table, just one point off first-placed Al-Hilal.
Al-Taawoun's blistering start to the season has been owing to their dominance on home turf, where they have won each of their last nine matches across all competitions, stretching back to a 1-1 draw against Al-Ettifaq on April 9.
Al Ittihad, on the other hand, failed to return to winning ways as they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Al-Ahli at the King Abdullah Sports City just before the international break.
Despite seeing less than 40% of the ball possession and being on the back foot for most of the game, Al-Ahli picked up the desired result courtesy of a 31st-minute strike from former Barcelona man Franck Kessie.
Prior to that, the Tigers saw their four-game winning streak across all competitions come to an end on September 29 when they were held to a goalless draw by Al-Fayha at the King Fahd International Stadium.
While Al Ittihad have now lost two of their last three home games in the league, they head into the weekend unbeaten in 10 consecutive away matches across all competitions, claiming eight wins and two draws since May's 2-1 loss at the hands of Al-Taawoun.
Nuno Espirito Santo's men have picked up 19 points from their nine league matches this season to sit fourth in the Professional League table, level on points with Al Ahli and Al-Nassr.
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Team News
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Medran was involved in all three goals against Al Tai last time out and the 29-year-old, who now has five assists and one goal in his last four matches, will be one to keep an eye on.
Summer signing Barrow has scored in each of his last three matches and the former Bologna striker should lead the Wolves' attack once again, alongside Pedro and Mateus Castro.
At the defensive end of the pitch, we expect Chamusca to name an unchanged back four of Muath Faqeehi, Waleed Al-Ahmed, Andrei Girotto and Fahad Al Abdulrazzaq for the fifth game on the spin, with Brazilian goalkeeper Mailson starting in goal once again.
Al Ittihad remain without the services of former West Bromwich Albion defender Ahmed Hegazy, who has been out of action since sustaining a cruciate ligament rupture back in May.
He is joined on the Tigers' injury table by experienced goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Jadani, who has also been sidelined since May through an ACL injury.
Having missed three consecutive games through injury, Karim Benzema returned to action against Al Ahli last time out and the 35-year-old, who has nine goal involvements across all competitions this season, should lead the visitors' attack this weekend.
Al-Taawoun possible starting lineup:
Mailson; Faqeehi, Al-Ahmed, Girotto, Al Abdulrazzaq; Flavio, Mahdioui, Medran; Castro, Pedro, Barrow
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Grohe; Olayan, Felipe, Kadesh, Bamasud; Romarinho, Kante, Fabinho, Coronado; Hamdallah, Benzema
We say: Al-Taawoun 2-2 Al Ittihad
With just three points separating Al-Taawoun and Al Ittihad in the upper echelons of the table, we anticipate a thrilling contest ensuing at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium this weekend.
Both sides are evenly matched on paper and we predict that they will cancel out each other's efforts in what should be an entertaining draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
