Al Ittihad will be looking to keep within striking distance of the Saudi Pro League leaders when they travel to Prince Hathloul Bin Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium to face Al Okhdood on Thursday evening.
The hosts are in 13th place in the league standings with just four points to their name after the first five games of the season, while the visitors are in second spot, three points behind league-leading Al-Hilal.
Match preview
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After avoiding the drop by the skin of their teeth last term, Al Okhdood saw themselves become one of the bookmakers' favourites to be relegated this season after taking just a single point from their first four matches of the new campaign.
During that time, the Najran-based outfit were also knocked out of the King's Cup by lower-division side Al Arabi on their home patch, in a match they played the majority of the second half with 10 men.
Indeed, it has been a tough start to life in Najran for Stjepan Tomas, but the new boss will be feeling much better this week after finally picking up his first league victory with a magnificent comeback from two goals down to beat Al Fateh 4-2 on the road over the weekend.
However, the Croat will now need to try and maintain that same momentum upon returning to Prince Hathloul Bin Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium, where his side are yet to score a goal in the top flight this season.
When these two sides met in the league last season, Al Okhdood were left empty-handed in both matches, losing 2-1 in the most recent matchup and going down 1-0 at this venue back in September last year.
Meanwhile, following their worst league finish since 2019-20 last term, Al Ittihad are showing signs of their best form in the early stages of this season, with four wins notched up over the first five gameweeks.
The most recent of those victories came last Friday, when they came from a goal down to thrash Al Khaleej 4-1 at home, while the only defeat Nadi Al-Sha'ab have suffered in any competition in 2024-25 was against the Blue Waves on matchday four.
One of the most notable improvements made by the side under France legend Laurent Blanc has been their attacking output, as they have already netted 15 goals in five league games, just one fewer than the defending champions.
Key to their attacking success has been the seeming return to form of Blanc's compatriot Karim Benzema, who scored the opener against Al Khaleej last time out, taking his tally for the season to six - one behind Aleksandar Mitrovic and two ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Al Ittihad had a dismal away record leading up to the end of last season, winning only one of their final five matches on the road, but given their start this term, they will undoubtedly see this as a match they should be coming away from with all three points in the bag.
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Team News
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Al Okhdood have just one known injury absentee for this match in the form of centre-forward Saleh Al-Abbas, who is likely to miss the remainder of the year with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
The other player that will miss out for the hosts this week is Saeed Al-Rubaie, who was red-carded in the win against Al Fateh, though Damion Lowe will be eligible to return to action having served his one-match ban.
For Al Ittihad, Luiz Felipe is ruled out and has now missed five matches with a thigh injury, which has seen Fabinho step back into central defence alongside Al-Nassr loanee Abdulelah Al-Amri.
The Italy international will be joined on the sideline this week by long-term absentees Ahmed Sharahili and Ahmed Bamasud, both of whom are still on the road to recovery from knee surgery.
Al Okhdood possible starting lineup:
Vitor; Khamis, Asiri, Al-Saeed, Al-Qaydhi; Petros, Pedroza; Bassogog, Musona, Jahif; Kone
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Al-Shanqeeti, Al-Amri, Fabinho, Kadesh; Kante, Mitaj; Diaby, Aouar, Bergwijn; Benzema
We say: Al Okhdood 1-3 Al Ittihad
While Al Okhdood will be feeling a lot better about themselves after picking up their first win of the new campaign last weekend, they are now set to face an Al Ittihad side that look like they mean business this season.
With Benzema back in form, the visitors have been scoring almost at will this term, and we feel they will secure a fairly comfortable victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
