Damac will aim to jump out of the bottom three in the Saudi Pro League table with a first win of the season on Thursday, when they travel to take on Al Wahda.
In their opening five outings, the visitors have failed to pick up a victory while only managing three points, with their hosts three points better off in ninth spot courtesy of two wins from their five games.
Match preview
After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Saudi Pro league last season, thanks to a strong end to the campaign which saw them finish 13th with 32 points from their 30 games, Al Wahda turned their focus to the new term with the aim of securing a more comfortable finish this time around.
They succeeded in making a fast start, despite a 1-0 opening-day defeat to Al Riyadh, as Georgios Donis's side went on to score back-to-back victories in the next two matches, firstly beating Al Shabab 3-1 on home turf as Anselmo and Hussain Al-Eisa had them 2-0 up at half time and Yahya Naji restored the two-goal lead deep into injury time after the visitors pulled one back through a Jawad El Yamiq own goal.
The Knights of Mecca then travelled to take on Al Tai and again came away with all three points after a first clean sheet of the season, eventually winning 3-0 as Faycal Fajr opened the scoring in the first half, Saeed Al Muwallad added as second on the hour mark and Odion Ighalo capped off a dominant display with another goal in injury time.
They have been unable to build on those victories since, though, and now head into the sixth round of league fixtures on the back of consecutive defeats, firstly suffering a 3-0 beating in a difficult test at home to Al Ittihad, as Romarinho, Jota and Igor Coronado all found the net for their visitors, before Donis's men were most recently thrashed away at Al Taawoun on Saturday.
Flavio and Sattam Al Roqi had the hosts 2-0 up at half time, and Waleed Al-Ahmad and Ahmed Ashraf Al-Fiqi made it four after the interval before Fajr netted a consolation goal from the penalty spot in injury time, and with those heavy defeats seeing Al Wahda drop to ninth spot after five Saudi Pro League games, the Knights of Mecca will be keen to bounce back and put the disappointment behind them by making a return to winning ways on home turf on Thursday.
In their way stand a Damac side who are still searching for a first three-point haul of the league season, having endured a slow start after their eighth-placed finish last time around.
In his first full season at the helm, Cosmin Contra's side began away at Al Tai and left empty-handed following a narrow 1-0 defeat, with the only goal of the contest coming 11 minutes from time, before they picked up a first point of the season in dramatic fashion in a 2-2 draw with Al Riyadh, having come from two goals down to take a share of the spoils thanks to Abdullah Al Ammar's brace, as the equalising goal came in the 10th minute of injury time.
Aiming to build on that with a first win, the Knights of the South then travelled to Al Shabab and looked set to leave with a 1-0 victory courtesy of Georges-Kevin Nkoudou's 79th-minute opener, only to be on the wrong end of a late leveller on that occasion, as Fahad Al-Muwallad forced a share of the points with a goal in the 89th minute.
Their late misfortunes continued in the following contest at home to Al Fateh, who they led 2-0 through a first-half Assan Ceesay brace, only for the visitors to draw level through a double from Feras Albrikan, with the leveller coming in the 93rd minute, before the run of draws was put to an end in a 3-1 defeat away at Al Ettifaq, as they initially went ahead through Nkoudou, only for Moussa Dembele to hit a first-half brace for the hosts and Hamdan Al-Shamrani to put the game out of sight with a third in the second half.
Now sitting in the bottom three with just three points on the board, Damac will feel they should certainly have a more healthy tally at this stage, given the late goals they have conceded, and they will now be desperate to end the wait for a first victory of the campaign in order to climb out of the drop zone at this early stage of the campaign.
Team News
Following their consecutive heavy defeats, Georgios Donis may look to make several alterations to his Al Wahda starting XI on Thursday, and Odion Ighalo should again lead the line, having earned a first start for the club last time out after making a switch from Al Hilal.
Hazzaa Al Ghamdi and Abdulaziz Noor will both hope to keep their places either side of the Nigerian in a front three, while veteran Faycal Fajr remains a key man in midfield, having already found the net twice this term after contributing three goals and eight assists in the Saudi Pro League last time around.
He should again be joined by Anselmo in the engine room, while summer signing Jawad El Yamiq will be relied upon in the middle of the defence alongside Abdullah Al-Hafith.
Damac should again line up in a 3-4-3 shape on Thursday, with Assan Ceesay, who arrived from Lecce over the summer, expected to lead the line having notched up his first two goals for the club in their eventual 2-2 draw with Al Fateh.
He should be joined up front by Abdulaziz Al-Bishi and danger man Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, who has also netted two goals since his recent arrival from Besiktas.
Domagoj Antolic is a mainstay in the engine room and could again be partnered by Bader Munshi, while Contra should deploy an unchanged back three of Hassan Al-Shamrani, Farouk Chafai and Abdelkader Bedrane.
Al Wahda possible starting lineup:
Atiah; Al-Muwallad, Al-Hafith, El Yamiq, Al Bukhari; Anselmo, Fajr, Bakshween; Noor, Ighalo, Al Ghamdi
Damac possible starting lineup:
Zeghba; Al-Shamrani, Chafai, Bedrane; Al Hawsawi, Antolic, Munshi, Al-Ammar; Al-Bishi, Ceesay, Nkoudou
We say: Al Wahda 2-1 Damac
We anticipate a tight contest on Thursday between two sides fighting to end tough runs, and with the visitors devoid of confidence having not yet managed a victory this term, we back the Knights of Mecca to get over the line on home turf.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
