Round 26 of the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League season sees Al-Ahli and Al Ittihad go head-to-head at the King Abdullah Sports City on Monday evening.
The hosts had to make do with a share of the spoils last time out, while their visitors notched up a second league victory on the bounce.
Match preview
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Al Ittihad cruised to a routine 3-1 triumph over Al Feiha when the teams went head-to-head at the Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium on Friday.
Marcelo Gallardo's men conceded a 25th-minute opener to Abdelhamid Sabiri's opener but managed to turn the game around before half time thanks to strikes from Abderrazak Hamdallah and Ahmed Al Ghamdi before Marwan Al-Sahafi sealed the deal in stoppage time.
As a result, Nadi Al-Watan remain fourth in the Saudi Pro League table, two points adrift in the battle for the final continental berth.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who boast just one victory from the last five editions of this fixture across all competitions.
However, that win did come in the most recent encounter back in October, when Monday's visitors fell to a 1-0 loss in this season's reverse meeting.
Al Ahli served up an entertaining share of the spoils as they played out a 2-2 stalemate against Al Ettifaq in Friday's meeting at the Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium.
Matthias Jaissle's men raced to an early lead thanks to Firas Al-Buraikan but soon found themselves following Seko Fofana's strike and Al-Buraikan's own goal before Abdullah Al Ammar restored parity two minutes from time.
With 48 points picked up from 25 matches so far, the Royals sit third in the standings, two points ahead of their next opponents ahead of the meeting in Jeddah.
Having recently seen their six-game unbeaten home run come to an end, Monday's hosts will be keen to avoid back to back defeats in front of their fans for the first time since 2022.
Team News
Al Ittihad's Madallah Al Olayan is eligible to feature once again having served a one-game suspension in the win over Al Feiha last time out.
Twenty-year-old Marwan Al-Sahafi wasted no time in making an impact off the bench last time out and could be rewarded with a place in the starting XI here.
Firas Al-Buraikan has found the back of the net in three of his last four matches for club and country, making the Saudi Arabian one to keep an eye on.
Gabri Veiga remains sidelined for the visitors through injury and is still a considerable way off making his return to first-team action.
Al-Ahli possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Yaslam, Ibanez, Demiral, Balobaid; Kessie, Al Asmari; Mahrez, Firmino, Saint-Maximin; Al-Buraikan
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Al Muaiouf; Kadesh, Hegazy, Luiz Felipe, Al Saqour; A. Al Ghamdi, Kante, F. Al Ghamdi, Jota; Benzema, Hamdallah
We say: Al-Ahli 1-1 Al Ittihad
There is little to pick between the sides heading into Monday's contest, which could easily head either way. We can see both teams matching each other over the course of the 90 minutes to settle for a point apiece in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
