Gameweek 15 in the Saudi Pro League will see Al Ittihad look to pull closer to the top three sides in the league when they take on Al Khaleej at King Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium on Thursday evening.
These sides are on contrasting paths this season, with the hosts currently in fourth place in the league standings, while the visitors are down in 14th and just three points above the dreaded drop zone.
Match preview
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Defending champions Al Ittihad have failed to find the same type of form they showed last season when they beat Al Nassr by five points and brought an end to an 11-year wait for the league title.
The Tigers drew their last league match 1-1 away to Al Ittifaq, which took them to 25 points after 14 matches, leaving them 13 points behind league leaders Al Hilal and the lowest-ranked of the four PIF-owned clubs in the Saudi top flight.
However, they did bounce back from that result with a solid 2-1 win over AGMK in the AFC Champions League on Monday night, which saw them maintain first place in Group C, but based on their league performance this term, they may have to rely on going deep in that competition to have a chance of competing in it again next season.
Former Al Nassr midfielder Abderrazak Hamdallah has been the standout player for Al Ittihad in recent weeks and scored both goals in their last match as well as the all-important leveller against Steven Gerrard's Al Ittifaq last weekend.
The hosts are unbeaten under Marcelo Gallardo, who replaced Nuno Espirito Santo earlier this month, and the new boss will be confident coming into this match with his side only losing one of their last six on home soil.
Meanwhile, Al Khaleej were the first side above the dotted line last season, and with just 13 points in their first 14 games, they look as though they are going to battle at the bottom of the league again this term.
Al-Danah come into this match off the back of a disappointing 3-1 loss away to Al Wehda last weekend, when Odion Ighalo scored a hat-trick while Fabio Martins converted a penalty for his side in the first half.
That result brought up the visitors' seventh loss of the season, with their only victory in their last seven league games coming against 13th-placed Al Tai before we headed into the international break earlier this month.
Pedro Emanuel's side lost home and away without finding the net even once last season in this fixture, and they have failed to beat this opponent in eight previous encounters, losing six times and drawing just twice.
Team News
Al Ittihad have something of an injury crisis on their hands and could be missing as many as eight players for this match, with only Aseel Abed and Awad Al-Nashri hopeful of returning in time for kickoff.
Among the confirmed absentees are Romarinho and N'Golo Kante, though Karim Benzema looks back to full fitness after missing a couple of games last month, and the Frenchman should once again lead the line for the hosts.
The visitors are heading into this match without defender Omar Al-Oudah and goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic, which should see Marwan Al-Haidari continue in goal for the foreseeable future.
Khaled Narey was shown two yellow cards against Al Tai, which saw him miss out against Al Wehda last week, but the Togolese forward should slot straight back into the starting 11 for this one.
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Al-Maiouf; Al-Shanqeeti, Felipe, Kadesh, Bamsaud; Fabinho, Al-Ghamdi, Al Amri, Hamdallah, Jota; Benzema
Al Khaleej possible starting lineup:
Al-Haidari; Al Hamsal, Al-Khabrani, Lopez, Rebocho; Narey, Hamzi, Jung, Rodrigues, Martins; Sherif
We say: Al Ittihad 2-0 Al Khaleej
While Al Ittihad have not been at their best of late, they have beaten bottom-half teams with relative ease this season. The visitors have never beaten this opponent in the top flight, and we feel they will suffer another defeat in this one.
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