Al Ettifaq will aim to make it two wins from two in the new Saudi Pro League when they welcome Al Okhdood to the Abdullah Al Dabil Stadium on Wednesday.
Having gone unbeaten in the two meetings between the sides last season, the visitors will look to extend their impressive run against the Faris Ad-Dahna and secure their first win of the campaign.
Match preview
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Al Ettifaq kicked off the 2024-25 Professional League campaign on a positive note as they secured a 1-0 victory over a resilient Al Shabab side in last Saturday's season curtain-raiser.
Following a goalless first half at the Al-Shabab Club Stadium, French striker Moussa Dembele came up clutch for the visitors as he netted in the 74th minute to hand them an opening-day victory.
Steven Gerard will be delighted with his side's start to the new campaign, particularly off the back of an unconvincing run of results in pre-season, where they failed to win four of their five warm-up matches while conceding 10 goals and keeping one clean sheet.
The goal for the English coach will be to secure Champions League football this season, following the Faris Ad-Dahna's underwhelming performance from last term, where they finished sixth in the league standings, 11 points off fourth-placed Al Taawoun.
Next up for Al Ettifaq is an opposing side whom they failed to get the better of in both home and away meetings last season, losing 1-0 at the Prince Hathloul Bin Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium on December 2, before claiming a 1-1 draw in May's return fixture.
Al Okhdood, on the other hand, were denied a dream start to the new campaign as they suffered a 3-0 hammering at the hands of reigning champion Al Hilal last Saturday.
Aleksandar Mitrovic struck twice inside the opening 34 minutes to set the visitors on their way at the Prince Hathloul Bin Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic added the third of the game right on the stroke of half time.
This was in keeping with their poor showing in pre-season, where Al Okhdood suffered back-to-back defeats in their two friendly outings, losing 3-1 to Ahal on August 4, one week before they were beaten 1-0 by Bahraini outfit Al-Khaldiya.
Stjepan Tomas's men have come into the new term off the back of a forgettable 2023-23 campaign, where they needed a 2-0 victory over Al Tai in the season finale to guarantee their top-flight status, finishing just one point and one place above the relegation zone.
While Al Okhdood will be looking to bounce back from last weekend's defeat, they have struggled for results away from home, where they are on a run of just one win in 13 league matches since October 2023, losing eight and claiming four draws while conceding 24 goals and scoring nine.
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Team News
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Dembele opened his account for the season with his strike against Al Shabab at the weekend and we expect the former Lyon striker to spearhead the Al Ettifaq attack once again.
Dembele, who netted 12 league goals last season, should be joined in the hosts' attack by Demarai Gray and Karl Toko Ekambi, while Seko Fofana, Vitinho and Georginio Wijnaldum should retain their roles in the centre of the park.
At the defensive end of the pitch, we expect an unchanged back four of Madallah Al-Olayan, Abdullah Madu, Abdullah Al Khateeb and Radhi Al-Oteibi, with Slovakia international Marek Rodak starting in goal once again.
Al Okhdood recently completed the signing of Damion Lowe from MLS side Philadelphia Union and the 31-year-old could be handed his debut at the Abdullah Al Dabil Stadium.
Should that be the case, he should form the centre-back pairing with skipper Saeed Al-Rabiei, while Eid Al Muwallad and new signing Juan Pedroza should keep their spots in midfield.
Al Ettifaq possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Al-Olayan, Madu, Al Khateeb, Al-Oteibi; Fofana, Wijnaldum, Vitinho; Gray, Ekambi, Dembele
Al Okhdood possible starting lineup:
Vitor; Ghassan, Lowe, Al-Rabiei, Al Saeed; Al Zabdani, Al Muwallad, Pedroza, Salem; Godwin, Al Hatila
We say: Al Ettifaq 3-0 Al Okhdood
Off the back of a disappointing home defeat against Al Hilal, Al Okhdood will be looking to bounce back on Wednesday and secure their first week of the campaign. However, given the gulf in quality and experience between the two sides, we are backing Al Ettifaq to come away with a comfortable victory in front of their home supporters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
