The Saudi Professional League returns with a fresh set of fixtures as Al Okhdood play host to Al Khaleej at the Prince Hathloul Bin Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium on Friday.
Al Okhdood are currently on a run of three defeats in their opening three home matches this season and will head into the weekend looking to end this dry spell.
Match preview
The newly-promoted side were sent crashing back to earth last Thursday as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Al Ittihad at the Prince Hathloul Bin Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium.
They turned in a solid defensive display to repel Nuno Espirito Santo's men for most of the game before Karim Benzema found the breakthrough with 18 minutes left to play.
Prior to that, Al Okhdood picked up their first-ever Professional League victory on September 1, when they beat Al Riyadh 1-0 at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium to end their four-match winless run.
With last week's result, Jorge Mendonca's men have now lost each of their three home matches this season, conceding five goals and finding the back of the net just once in that time.
While Al Okhdood will be looking to end this poor run and get their top-flight campaign back on track, next up is an opposing side who have won each of their previous two meetings, claiming a 3-1 victory in November 2021, five months before securing a 1-0 win in Najran.
Like the hosts, Al Khaleej were denied successive wins for the first time this season as they suffered a 3-1 defeat against 10-man Al-Fateh at the Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium last Friday.
In a game where Ali Mukhtar received his marching orders, a first-half brace from Mourad Batna and Sofiane Bendebka's 66th-minute strike put the visitors in a commanding lead before Fabio Martins pulled one back from the spot in the 82nd minute.
This followed a 3-1 victory at Al Shahab on September 2 when Mansour Hamzi, Martins and Mohamed Sherif all found the target to cancel out Habib Diallo's 20th-minute strike and turn the game on its head.
Al Khaleej head into the weekend unbeaten in six of their last seven away games in the league — claiming three wins and three draws since April — with a 3-1 loss against Al Fayha in this August's season opener the exception.
With five points from their first six matches, Pedro Emanuel's men are currently 12th in the Professional League standings, one point and two places above this weekend's hosts.
Team News
Al Okhdood remain without the services of midfielder Musleh Al Shaikh, who has been sidelined since coming off with a first-half injury in the 1-0 defeat against Al-Ahli on August 24.
Newly-signed Nigerian forward Saviour Godwin was handed his debut in last Thursday's game against Al Ittihad and the former Casa Pia man should form the front two with veteran striker Leandre Tawamba once again.
Meanwhile, Al Khaleej will be without 22-year-old midfielder Abdulelah, who will serve the second of his three-match suspension following his straight red against Al Shabab on September 2.
In his absence, Khaled Al-Semeiry was handed a starting role last Friday and the former Al Ittihad man should form the midfield pivot with 33-year-old Woo-Young Jung once again.
On the injury front, Emanuel will be unable to call upon 26-year-old striker Fawaz Al-Torais, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines through a cruciate ligament rupture.
Al Okhdood possible starting lineup:
Vitor; Al Zabdani, Kvirkvelia, Al-Rabiei, Burca; Mansour; Collado, Muwallad, Tanase; Godwin, Tawamba
Al Khaleej possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Al-Haydar, Al-Khabrani, Lopez, Rebocho; Al-Semeiry, Jung; Narey, Rodrigues, Martins; Sherif
We say: Al Okhdood 1-1 Al Khaleej
Having suffered defeat last time out, Al Okhdood and Al Khaleej will head into the weekend looking to quickly find their feet. Both sides are yet to hit their strides this season and we can see them canceling each other's efforts and settling for a point apiece.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
