Sports Mole previews Friday’s Saudi Pro League clash between Al Shabab and Al Ittihad, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Two sides in need of a positive result will square off in gameweek 12 of the Saudi Pro League, with Al Shabab taking on Al Ittihad at the King Fahd International Stadium on Friday evening.
The hosts come into this match in 11th place in the league standings with 12 points after 11 matches, while the visitors are in sixth place with 21 points over the same period.
Match preview
Al Shabab are a long way from the type of form that saw them finish the last season in fourth place, currently closer to the relegation zone than the top five in the league this term.
Following a draw and a loss either side of the international break, the White Lion lost their last league game 2-1 away to Abha, marking their fifth defeat in 11 games, along with three wins and three draws.
The hosts come into this match off the back of a 2-1 win over Al Fateh in the King’s Cup, where they had to come from behind with Yannick Carrasco scoring twice, the second of which turned out to be an extra-time winner.
After failing to win any of their first five league matches this season, Al Shabab decided to axe Marcel Keizer from his managerial role, with Igor Biscan emerging as his successor, and the new boss has made a positive start to his tenure with two wins in his first three games in charge.
However, Biscan will need to address his side’s poor away record if they are to steer clear of the drop, as they have won just one of their six matches on the road this term while drawing another and losing four.
Meanwhile, defending champions Al Ittihad were heavily fancied to defend their title at the start of the season and made the dream start with four consecutive wins in their first four games, keeping clean sheets in each.
However, they have hit a bit of a roadblock of late, and after only managing a 2-2 draw at home to Al Hazm last week, the Tigers have now failed to win any of their last four league games, losing one and drawing three.
In their five matches this month, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side’s only victories came in the cup competitions, with a 1-0 win over Al Quwa Al Jawiya in the AFC Champions League and a 3-0 win over Al Fayha in the King’s Cup in midweek.
While Santos does have a fair few issues to address for the remainder of the campaign, his side have been very good in defence this season, conceding just nine to date, which is the second-best record in the top flight.
The last time these sides met, Nadi Al-Sha’ab won the match 2-1 on their home patch and are unbeaten against this opponent in their last three encounters (W2 D1 L0), outscoring them 5-2 in that time.
Al Shabab Saudi Pro League form:
Al Ittihad Saudi Pro League form:
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Team News
Biscan will be without the services of defender Iago Santos, who will have to sit this match out after he was shown two yellows in their 2-1 loss against Abha last week.
Nader Al-Sharari is the most likely to step into central defence in place of Santos, joining Hamad Al-Yami, Romain Saiss and Fawaz Al Yami as a back four.
Santos, on the other hand, is still without goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Jadani, which should see Marcelo Grohe continue between the sticks for the visitors.
There are also two absentees in defence, with Aseel Abed and Ahmed Hegazi both ruled out due to injuries while Jota is still ineligible for selection.
Al Shabab possible starting lineup:
Kim; S. Al Yami, Al-Sharari, Saiss, F. Al-Yami; Alqahtani, Cuellar, Banega; Carlos, Diallo, Bahbri
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Grohe; Hawsawi, Kadesh, Felipe; Al-Shanqeeti, Kante, Coronado, Al-Farhan, Bamsaud; Al Shammari, Benzema
We say: Al Shabab 1-2 Al Ittihad
The hosts will be in high spirits after their late win over the weekend, but they face a significant step up in class here and will likely be the happier of the sides if this one ends level.
However, the visitors will know that they cannot afford to drop any more points this season and are likely to go all out to secure the victory. Matches between these sides tend to be fairly close, and we are expecting the same in this one, but we are backing Al Ittihad to clinch the win by the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data
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