Taking to the field for the first time in 2024, Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal play host to MLS upstarts Inter Miami in Riyadh for a Riyadh Season Cup fixture on Monday night.
Jorge Jesus's men closed 2023 on an astonishing 20-game winning streak in all competitions, while the Herons have already failed to triumph in two exhibition fixtures this month.
Match preview
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As low attendances and player displeasure threaten to tarnish the image of the lucrative Saudi Pro League even further, Al-Hilal have purchased a one-way ticket to title glory and closed out the first half of the season with no defeats to report from 19 fixtures.
Barring a pair of stalemates with Damak and Al Fayha, each of Al-Hilal's other 17 Saudi Pro League fixtures since the start of the new term have ended in victory, allowing Jorge Jesus's side to establish an unassailable seven-point lead over fellow PIF-backed side Al-Nassr in first place.
Ripping the title out of a faltering Al-Ittihad's grasp is item number one on Jesus's agenda for the coming months, but Al-Hilal also have silverware to battle for in the King's Cup and AFC Champions League; Iran's Sepahan will be their opponents in the last 16 of the latter competition in February.
Alongside their exceptional league exploits, which have seen the hosts register 59 goals at the correct end of the field while conceding a mere nine, Al-Hilal dropped just two points en route to topping their Champions League group and also reached the semi-finals of the King's Cup without shipping a single goal.
Since having their momentum halted in a 1-1 draw with Damak on September 21, Al-Hilal have been an irrepressible force across the Gulf, prevailing in 20 straight fixtures in all competitions and scoring multiple goals in 18 of those victories, including each of their last 15.
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From a franchise who cannot stop winning to a side unable to buy a victory over the past few months, the lengthy winter hiatus has done little to aid Inter Miami's prospects of snapping their winless duck, which now stretches all the way back to September 21 in competitive and non-competitive action.
Lionel Messi and co may have achieved Leagues Cup stardom while also taking the runners-up prize in the US Open Cup, but by virtue of failing to win any of their last six MLS matches, the Herons were swiftly eliminated from post-season contention, finishing second from bottom in the Eastern Conference standings and 27th overall.
Preparing for his first full season at the Herons helm, Gerardo Martino has already overseen a trio of dissatisfactory friendly results since the campaign ended, as New York City and Dallas have both got the better of Inter Miami either side of a goalless draw with the El Salvador national team.
Another four exhibition games await Inter Miami before the 2024 MLS season commences; Martino's side will also battle Al-Nassr, Vissel Kobe, Newell's Old Boys and a Hong Kong XI during their exhibition period prior to the visit of Real Salt Lake on February 22, but avoiding winless match number 11 is the first point of order on Monday.
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Team News
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As has been the case for the past few months, Al-Hilal's marquee absentee remains Brazilian attacker Neymar, who will be denied a reunion with former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain teammate Lionel Messi on Monday owing to his cruciate ligament injury.
Two more of Al-Hilal's summer acquisitions - Bono and Kalidou Koulibaly - also have Africa Cup of Nations commitments to fulfil with Morocco and Senegal, while Khadim Diaw's Mauritania have also progressed to the knockout rounds.
In addition, no fewer than 10 players were summoned to the Saudi Arabia squad for the ongoing Asian Cup, so an immediate debut for newly-arrived left-back Renan Lodi should certainly be on the cards, but his compatriot Malcom should be back from a leg injury.
In contrast, Inter Miami have left for their Saudi Arabian and Asian sojourn without any AFCON or Asian Cup absentees, and Martino's travelling squad unsurprisingly includes the revered Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and the newly-acquired Luis Suarez.
All four erstwhile Barcelona men were starters in the loss to Dallas, where Messi and Suarez rekindled their former prolific partnership up front, before Martino inevitably rang the changes in abundance for the second period.
Cruciate ligament victims Facundo Farias, Franco Negri and Ian Fray have all been left at home as they continue their recovery processes, but Ukrainian defender Sergiy Kryvtsov is back from a hamstring injury and was named in the first XI last time out.
Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:
Al-Wutaian; Al-Mufarrij, Jahfali, Al-Shahrani, Lodi; Al-Juwayr, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic; Malcolm, Mitrovic, Michael
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
Callender; Yedlin, Kryvtsov, Aviles, McVey, Allen; Gressel, Ruiz, Busquets; Messi, Suarez
We say: Al-Hilal 3-1 Inter Miami
For all of their exceptional rearguard exploits in 2023, Al-Hilal's defensive ranks have been decimated by international call-ups, but Jesus can still call upon most of his star foreigners in the middle and final third of the field.
A lack of match practice has harmed Inter Miami's rhythm - not that Martino's men showed much of it in the latter stages of 2023 anyway - and while Al-Hilal have also had a few weeks without any on-field commitments, the Saudi Pro League leaders are the firm favourites and ought to pick up where they left off.
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Ben Knapton
