Matchday three in the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League season will see Al Raed take on Al-Hilal at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium on Thursday evening.
The hosts are currently at the foot of the league table and come into the match in search of their first points of the campaign, while the visitors will be looking to keep up with the top three sides in the league.
Match preview
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Al Raed fell three places to tenth last season and have got this campaign off to the worst possible start after losing 1-0 loss to Abha at Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium last weekend.
Now under the guidance of Igor Jovicevic, Al Raed are at the bottom of the league table with two losses in two matches and are the only side in the top flight that are yet to score a goal this season, having also lost their opening fixture 3-0 to Al Ittihad.
Including their two losses this season, the hosts have failed to win any of their last five matches on either side of the break, which included a 3-2 loss to this opponent on the final weekend of last season.
Since then, their opponents have strengthened their squad quite remarkably, and with most of their new recruits hitting the ground running, the home side will know that they are in for potentially an even more difficult encounter this time around.
Meanwhile, Al-Hilal were forced to give up the league title last season after holding the crown for the three previous campaigns, and they will be determined to win it back at the first time of asking this term.
Jorge Jesus's men got their 2023-24 league season going with a 3-1 win over Abha on opening day, with new signing Malcom scoring a hat-trick on debut, but the smiles in the camp were quickly erased as they dropped points against Al Feiha over the weekend.
After going a goal down inside the first 15 minutes, Al-Hilal managed to draw level just five minutes later, and despite owning 77% of possession and firing 20 shots at goal, they were unable to find the go-ahead goal.
With that result, they have fallen to fourth place in the league standings with four points and trail fellow big-spenders Al Ettifaq, Al-Ahli and Al Ittihad, who are the only sides with a 100% record after the first two matchdays.
However, they have an incredible record against this opponent of 16 matches unbeaten, including 14 wins and two draws, and have outscored them 35-11 in that time, which unsurprisingly sees them come into this match as the overwhelming favourites.
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Team News
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Al Raed have struggled without their top scorer from last season, Mohammed Fouzair, who has not played a single minute yet this season and could make a return to the squad in this match.
Julio Tavares started alongside Amir Sayoud in the attack last week, although Raed Al-Ghamdi has been brought off the bench in the last two matches, and it may be his turn to try and shine from the start in this one.
The big news for Al-Hilal this week was the confirmation that Neymar's debut will be delayed by about a month as the Brazilian is still struggling with an ankle injury that he picked up in February.
Another notable absentee for Jesus is ex-Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who sustained an injury in their Arab Club Champions Cup final defeat and is expected to remain sidelined for three to four weeks.
Al Raed possible starting lineup:
Moreira; Al Jayzani, Gonzalez, Al Fahad, Al Sobeai; Al Dossary, Al Beshe, Loum, Sunbul; Tavares, Al Ghamdi
Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:
Al Maiouf; Al Berik, Jahfali, Al Bulaihi, N. Al Dawsari; Milinkovic-Savic, Neves; Michael, S. Al Dawsari, Malcom; Al Hamdam
We say: Al Raed 0-2 Al-Hilal
While the visitors did drop points in their last match, they were by far the more dominant side in the match, and we expect them to dictate this one as well. The hosts were very poor in their first two matches, and with very little threat shown in attack, we feel they may suffer their third consecutive shutout in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
