Arguably the pick of matchday four of the Saudi Professional League will take place Friday evening when Al Ittihad and Al-Hilal square off at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium.
Having failed to win any of the last six meetings between the sides, the hosts will head into the weekend looking to get one over the Blue Waves and continue their 100% record this season.
Match preview
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Al Ittihad maintained their perfect start to the 2023-24 Saudi Professional League campaign as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Al-Wehda on Monday.
It was a tale of two halves at the King Abdul Aziz Stadium as Romario, Jota and Igor Coronado all found the back of the net in the second half to hand the hosts their second defeat of the season.
With Monday's result, Nuno Espirito Santo's men have now won each of their opening four games of the new season, scoring 12 goals and keeping four clean sheets in that time.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing side who are unbeaten in their last six meetings since March 2022, claiming one draw and five wins, including a 3-1 victory in the Champions Cup quarter-finals on August 5.
Al-Hilal, on the other hand, turned in another solid team performance last Monday when they picked up a comfortable 2-0 victory over Al-Ettifaq.
In a one-sided affair at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Malcom and Salem Al-Dawsari netted first-half goals to hand Steven Gerrard's men their second defeat of the season.
Jorge Jesus's men have now picked up three wins and one draw from their four Professional League matches this season to collect 10 points and sit third in the table, two points and two placed below Friday's hosts.
The Blue Waves head into the weekend unbeaten in six consecutive away matches across all competitions, picking up five wins and one draw since May's 2-0 defeat at the hands of Al-Adalah.
Al-Hilal will be backing themselves to extend this solid run as they have won each of their last four away games against Al Ittihad, scoring eight goals and conceding two since a 2-0 loss in April 2021.
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Team News
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Al Ittihad will take to the pitch without superstar signing Karim Benzema, who was forced off with a 42nd-minute injury in Monday's game against Al-Wehda.
In his absence, former Celtic man Jota should be handed his first start of the season, forming the attacking trio with Coronado and 32-year-old Romarinho.
Other names on the Al Ittihad injury list include Ahmed Hegazy (ACL), Abdullah Al-Jadani (ACL) and Saudi Arabian midfielder Aseel Abed, who is out with a groin problem.
Meanwhile, Al-Hilal fans eagerly wait for the debut of their prized asset Neymar, who recently completed a shock move from Paris Saint-Germain, as he recovered from a muscle injury.
He is joined on the Blue Waves' injury table by 31-year-old defender Hyun-soo Jang, who has been out of action since coming off injured against Damac on May 19.
Summer signing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic will also play no part in Friday's clash as he serves the second of his three-match ban after picking up a straight red against Al Raed on August 24.
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Grohe; Al-Olayan, Hawsawi, Sharahili, Alshanqeeti; Kante, Fabinho; Romarinho, Hamdallah, Coronado; Jota
Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:
Bono; Al Shahrani, Al Bulayhi, Jahfali, Abdulhamid; Neves, Kanno; Al Dawsari, Malcolm, Michael; Mitrovic
We say: Al Ittihad 2-2 Al-Hilal
Given the number of stars and talents scattered across both teams, we anticipate a thrilling affair at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium. Both sides are evenly matched on paper and we see them cancelling out each other's efforts in a high-scoring stalemate.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
