Al Raed Take on the daunting task of traveling to the fortress that houses the kingdom’s arena Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts go into this game second in the league standings, two points behind leaders Al Ittihad, while the visitors are in 10th place with 14 points.

Game preview

© Imago

Al-Hilal returned from the November international break with a shocking away defeat to Al Khaleej, who staged an incredible second-half comeback to overturn a two-goal deficit and clinch a 3-2 win.

This result saw the Blue Waves relinquish top spot in the league to Al Ittihad for the first time this season. They then put in another disappointing performance, later drawing 1-1 with Al Sadd in the AFC Champions League Elite for three days.

An almost unthinkable third game in a row without a win seemed imminent Jorge JesusAl-Shabab’s side conceded a goal and a man late last month, but Sergei Milinkovic-Savic made a great appearance and scored a brace in the second half to save the team from blushes.

However, the Blue Waves appeared to get back to business as usual in midweek when they scored three goals without conceding against Al Gharafa with Milinkovic-Savic and his compatriot Aleksandar Mitrovic both find the network after a Marcos Leonardo Opening goal at the start of the game.

For Al-Hilal, the task now is to continue winning games to keep the pressure on Al Ittihad, who face a challenging game at home Cristiano Ronaldois Al-Nassr on Friday evening.

© Imago

Meanwhile, Al Raed struggled to produce positive results in the first third of the season and came into this game after their sixth defeat of the season, losing 1-0 at home to Al Taawoun.

This defeat was Raed Al Tahadi’s third defeat in the last four games on both sides, following a 3-1 win over newly promoted Al Orubah, and they also failed to score in any of those defeats while conceding eight goals.

On the road this season, Odair HellmannThe Barcelona team has played six league games so far and has picked up seven points through two wins and a draw, although they lost the last two games before that.

Unfortunately for the visitors, their chances of getting back on the winning list this week look unlikely given their record in this game, having failed to beat Al-Hilal in their last 18 attempts since April 2015.

Additionally, they were outscored 42-12 in their winless streak against the Blue Waves, who have also gone 28 consecutive league games unbeaten at the venue, with the last 21 ending in victory.

Al-Hilal Saudi Pro League form:

Al Raed Saudi Pro League form:

Team news

© Imago

After suffering a hamstring injury just weeks after returning from a year-long absence, Neymar He is expected to be close to his comeback but will not be eligible to play in league competition until next year.

Ruben Neves has now missed 17 games due to a ruptured patellar tendon and reports in recent weeks have suggested that the Portuguese midfielder is unlikely to return to the first team until the end of January.

Kalidou Koulibaly is suspended as he was the player sent off against Al Shabab last week, which will be seen Hassan Tambakti also takes his place in central defense Ali Al Bulayhi.

Al Raed only has one loss due to injury in this game, namely the right winger Mohammed Fouzairwho tore his cruciate ligament at the end of October and is now facing a longer break.

Karim El Berkaoui scored both goals in the team’s last win over Al Orubah, taking his tally to four goals this season, and he is likely to feature in attack Saleh Al-Amriwho has so far scored six goals in twelve games.

Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Cancelo, Tambakti, Al-Bulayhi, Renan Lodi; Milinkovic-Savic, N. Al Dawsari; Malcom, Marcos Leonardo, S. Al Dawsari; Mitrovic

Possible starting lineup for Al Raed:
Moreira; Al Dossary, Al Jayzani, Gonzalez, Qasmi, Al Hawsawi; Sayoud, Abeid, Normann, Al Amri; El Berkaoui

We say: Al-Hilal 3:1 Al Raed

Although Al-Hilal have experienced an unusual dip in form since the international break in November, their home record is still incredible and they have not lost to this opponent in almost a decade.

Furthermore, Al Raed’s away form this season does little to inspire confidence in their chances of pulling off an upset here, so we expect the hosts to take a fairly comfortable win.

To data analyze the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this game Please click here.

Preview via email