RIYADH: Al-Ittihad are seeking their fourth successive victory when they face their hosts Al-Riyadh in the eighth round of the Saudi Pro League, also known as the Roshn League, later tonight at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh.
The two clubs met twice in the SPL last season, with Al-Ittihad winning both matches. In the first encounter they won 4-0 before winning the second match 2-0.
Al-Ittihad will be aiming to chase down the league leaders Al-Hilal and return to Jeddah with three points, while Al-Riyadh will seek to continue their good start to the season.
The match sees the return of Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti to Al-Ittihad’s squad after he suffered a foot injury against Al-Qadisiyah in the last round.
However, Fawaz Al-Saqour, Hassan Kadish, and Portuguese player Danilo Pereira are all absent through injury.
Hosts Al-Riyadh are aiming for their first-ever win against Al-Ittihad in the professional league and hope to reduce the points gap to their rivals to just two points if they secure a victory.
Al-Riyadh are currently in fourth place with 13 points from four wins, two losses, and one draw, while Al-Ittihad are second with 18 points after six wins and one defeat.
Al-Ittihad, Al-Riyadh clash tonight in Saudi Pro League showdown
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Al-Ittihad, Al-Riyadh clash tonight in Saudi Pro League showdown
- The 2 clubs met twice in SPL last season, Al-Ittihad winning both matches
Al-Hilal win to cut Al-Nassr’s lead at the top to two points
- Reigning champions Al- Ittihad beat Neom 3-1 to end the year on a high after difficult title defence
- Leaders dropped their first points of the season on Tuesday after a 2-2 draw against Ettifaq
RIYADH: Al-Hilal have closed the gap on leaders Al-Nassr lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League table to two points after beating Al-Khollod 3-1 on New Year’s Eve.
The win saw Al-Hilal leapfrog Al-Taawoun into second place they now have 29 points from 11 matches, just two behind Al-Nassr, who on Tuesday dropped their first points of the season after a 2-2 draw with Ettifaq.
Al-Hilal took the lead through Sergei Milinkovic-Savic after 45 minutes there was still enough stoppage time for Ramiro Enrique to equalize form the penalty spot. Two second half goals from Theo Hernandez secured a vital three points for Al-Hila.
Earlier in the day reigning SPL champions Al-Itttihad beat hosts Neom 3-1 to go fifth in the table and end the year on n relative high after a difficult defence of their title so far in this campaign.
Roger Fernandes opened the scoring on 14 minutes from Steven Bergwijn’s assist, but Said Benrahma equalized 13 minutes later for teams to go into the break on equal terms.
Second half goals by Bergwijn and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi secured a morale-boosting win for Al-Ittihad.
In Wednesday’s other match, Al-Qadsiah beat hosts Al-Shabab 3-2 to stay fifth in the table.
