Table-topping Al Ittihad will host Al Fayha in Sunday’s Saudi Pro League fixture at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
Although both teams enter this match with victories in their last outings, the hosts will be looking to widen the gap at the top of the standings, as they close in on yet another league title.
Match preview
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Following their 3-2 away triumph over title rivals Al Nassr on Wednesday, Al Ittihad consolidated their lead at the top of the standings, moving six points clear of their nearest challenger Al Hilal.
The Nation’s club trailed 2-0 in the first half, but Al Ittihad’s top marksman Karim Benzema and Ngolo Kante scored within three second-half minutes to restore parity, before Houssem Aouar made sure of all the points with a stoppage-time effort.
After 22 wins, five draws and three losses across 30 fixtures this term, the People’s club have amassed 71 points, making Laurent Blanc‘s team favourites to claim the Saudi top-flight title this season.
Blanc’s charges have been dominant at home this term, winning 14 and drawing one of their 15 league fixtures at home – three wins more than both Al Hilal and Al Quadisiya, with 11 victories each.
In addition to their immaculate form at home, the hosts have been firing on all cylinders on the attacking front, failing to score fewer than a couple of goals in only two of those fixtures on their home turf.
Although Al Fayha are entering this contest on the back of a 2-1 win against Damac in their last outing, they will have a mountain to climb against the leaders on Sunday, given their worrisome form.
The Knight of the South have been erratic in their away exertions with only three victories in the last 17 fixtures away from their home ground.
In addition to poor away form, the visitors are struggling to keep opposing attackers at bay, having conceded 42 goals in the current campaign.
That will make for hard reading for fans of the visitors, as they have been outscored in their last eight meetings across all competitions against Sunday’s opponents by an aggregate of 16-3.
A defeat for Pedro Emanuel‘s team this weekend will leave them winless in nine attempts against the home side, since a 1-0 King Cup success in April 2022.
Team News
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Although there is no injury worry for Blanc ahead of this fixture, forward Moussa Diaby will be unavoidably absent, after he was sent off in their match against Al Nassr.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo of Al Nassr (23) and Ivan Toney of Al Ahli (20) have scored more than Benzema, who is the leading scorer for the hosts with 19 this season, ahead of Sunday’s contest, and the forward will once again lead the line.
Pedrag Rajkovic is expected to continue in goal, with protection from the quartet of Abdulelah Al Amri, Hassan Kadish, Muhannad Al Shanqeeti and Danilo Pereira.
Emanuel has the full complement of players to do battle against the league leaders this weekend, as such he is likely to field a familiar starting XI.
Chris Smalling, Sami Al Khaibari and Gabriel Vareta are mainstays in the back line, and they will once again form the back three for the visitors.
Fashion Sakala and Renzo Pozuelo are tied on seven goals each, and they will be keen to make their mark against their more illustrious opponents this weekend.
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Al Shanqeeti, Al Amri, Kadish,Pereira; Kante, Fabinho; Al Obud, Aouar, Hernandez ;Benzema,
Al Fayha possible starting lineup:
Mosquera; Vareta, Smalling, Al Khaibari; Sakala, Shukurov, Cimirot, Al Baqawi; Pozuelo, Kaabi; Lopez
We say: Al Ittihad 3-1 Al Fayha
Al Ittihad have enough quality within their ranks to run over the visitors, and given their scoring prowess, we can only back them to claim a routine victory, with a likely outcome of a 3-1 scoreline.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
