Abha's relegation dogfight goes down to the wire as they journey to the Al Hazm Club Stadium to face Al Hazem in the final matchday of the Saudi Professional League on Monday.
While the hosts have been mathematically relegated, the Leaders of the South currently sit 15th in the league table and will secure their top-flight status for another season with all three points.
Match preview
Al Hazem were condemned to a fifth defeat in six away matches on Thursday as they were beaten 2-1 by Al Fateh when the sides met at the Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium.
Toze opened the scoring in the 22nd minute to put the visitors in front but Cristian Tello and Lucas Zelarayan found the back of the net to turn the game on its head and hand Al Fateh their 12th win of the season.
Al Hazem have now gone four consecutive matches without a win, picking up two points from a possible 12, and have won just one of their last 17 matches since mid-December.
Having returned to the Professional League last season, the Hazemies have dropped right back into the second division as they currently sit rooted to the bottom of the table, having picked up just 21 points from 33 matches so far.
Saleh Almohammedi's men now return home, where they are yet to taste victory this year, losing four and claiming four draws in their eight matches since beating Al Fateh 2-0 on December 7.
Abha, on the other hand, picked up three huge points in their battle to beat the drop as they secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Al Khaleej at the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium on Thursday.
After taking the lead courtesy of Francois Kamano's first-half effort, Abdullah Al-Salem netted in the 78th minute to draw the game level, but Fabian Noguera struck in the fourth minute of stoppage time to hand the hosts a vital victory.
With that result, the Leaders of the South have now picked up 10 points from their last four home games and are unbeaten in eight of their nine home games since December, a run which had seen them surge clear of the relegation zone.
Abha have now won nine of their 33 Professional League matches while losing 19 and claiming five draws to collect 32 points and sit 15th in the table, one point above the dreaded dotted line heading to the season finale.
While Pitso Mosimane's men need all three points on Monday to control their fate and stay afloat, they have been abysmal away from home, where they are yet to taste victory in the league this term and currently hold the division's poorest record, having picked up just two points from 16 matches.
Team News
Al Hazem remain without experienced midfielder Vina, who is set to sit out his sixth consecutive game since sustaining an injury against Al-Ittihad on April 20.
He is joined on the club's injury table by 34-year-old midfielder Mohammed Abusabaan, who has missed each of the last three matches due to a muscle problem.
Tunisian goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen sustained an injury following the goalless draw against Al Okhdood on May 2 and the 27-year-old is also out of contention for Monday's game.
As for Abha, Mosimane will be unable to name 31-year-old midfielder Zakaria Al-Sudani, who has been out of action since suffering a severe injury in March's game against Al Tae.
Noguera grabbed the headlines against Al Khaleej last time out and we expect the Argentine defender to form the back four with Fahad Bin Jumayah, Marcel Tisserand and Ibrahim Al Zubaidi once again.
Al Hazem possible starting lineup:
Zaied; Dakheel, Ricardo, Viana; Thain, Moreno, Juwaid, Mohamed; Selemani, Toze, Badammosi
Abha possible starting lineup:
Tatarusanu; Jumayah, Tisserand, Nogueira, Al Zubaidi; Al-Sahafi, Matic; Alshamary, Krychowiak, Kamano; Ali
We say: Al Hazem X-Y Abha
Given their horrendous form away from home, Abha will need to be at their best on Monday as they look to secure a season-salvaging victory. An already-relegated Al Hazem have nothing to play for and we see the visitors doing just enough to grab the desired result.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
