Saudi League: Restoration ignites the Al-Ahly and Al-Shabab summit

Al Hilal is looking forward to moving away again at the top of the Saudi League standings, when it visits Al Hazm at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Buraidah, as part of the 14th round of the tournament.

“The Capital Blue” is trying to continue the journey of victories, a week before meeting its traditional rival “Al-Nasr” in the struggle for leadership, where “Al-Hilal” tops the standings with 35 points, ahead of its counterpart Al-Nasr by a difference of four points before the start of this round.

Al-Hilal began to bring back a number of its players who were absent in the recent period due to injury, most notably Serbian Savic and his compatriot Mitrovic, in addition to Salman Al-Faraj, while Al-Hilal is awaiting the return of Salem Al-Dosari, who suffered an injury that kept him from participating since the last Al-Taawoun match.

Portuguese Jorge Jesus, Al Hilal’s coach, is trying to spare his players from fatigue, especially in light of the successive matches, as they meet Al-Hazm on Saturday, then face Nafbakhor of Uzbekistan at home, on Tuesday, in the AFC Champions League, and then return to meet Al-Nasr on Friday.

The Capital Blue is experiencing a remarkable rise in its levels, performance and results, as it was able to avoid loss alone among the participating league teams this season, and Al Hilal is trying to compete seriously to achieve the title that it lost last season after 3 years in which it succeeded in capturing the championship.

As for Al-Hazm, which is trying to come out with a positive result despite the difficulty of its task, it enters the match after falling to last place again after losing in its last two matches, which ended the positive shock caused by the Uruguayan Carreno after his presence to lead the team.

At Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, Al-Ahly is trying to regain the tone of its victories when it meets its counterpart, the Al-Shabab team, in a mission of restoration, after the last confrontation that brought them together, which witnessed Al-Ahly losing and officially announcing its relegation to the ranks of first-class clubs in the season before last.

Al-Ahly enters the match in third place, four points behind Al-Nasr, which is in second place, “before the start of this round,” and aspires to return to achieving victory after its disappointing draw against Damak in the round that preceded the break.

Al-Ahly is going through an unstable period with German coach Matthias Jaisse, the team’s coach, amid the fans’ anger at the performance and their aspirations for it to appear perfect, especially in light of the list of brilliant names it owns, led by the Algerian international Riyad Mahrez and the Frenchman Saint-Maximan.

As for Al-Shabab, which stumbled before the break with a sudden loss to Al-Raed, which was in last place at the time, it is trying to regain the winning tone, as it is in a late position and has 15 points to its credit.

Al-Shabab have not yet appeared in a stable manner, despite the presence of Croatian Igor Pescan several weeks ago to take over the job, succeeding Dutchman Louis Kaiser, who was dismissed after a series of disappointing results that contributed to the team’s decline in the rankings.

At the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Mahalla, Damak will meet its traditional rival, Abha, in the South Derby, amid similar ambitions towards winning and earning three points, especially in light of the closeness in points, which will give the winner of them advancement in the standings.

Damac has two points higher than its counterpart, Abha, as it has 15 points compared to 13 points for its traditional rival, Abha, as the host, Damac, seeks to achieve victory in order to continue its exemplary upward journey with performance and not losing in the last 3 matches.

As for Abha, which stumbled in its last match against Al-Ittihad, it is trying to regain its balance, especially after the distinguished levels it has presented since the presence of Tunisian Youssef Al-Mannai, who led the team to victory over Al-Shabab and then Al-Akhdood.

In the city of Al-Ahsa, Al-Fateh team inaugurates its new stadium against its guest, Al-Fayhaa, amid great ambitions to return to a winning tone after stumbling in the last two matches, losing to Al-Hilal and then tying against Riyadh before the break.

The confrontation will be different for the Al-Fateh team, as the stadium is expected to witness a large crowd, as it is the first confrontation hosted by the new club stadium.

Al-Fateh, led by Croatian Bilic, has 24 points, and its progress was halted in the last two rounds, as it fell and occupied sixth place before the start of this round’s competitions.

As for Al-Fayhaa, it declined significantly in performance despite being in an average position, but the closeness in points may push it towards a late position in the event of its loss and the victory of its competitors in the same round, as it has 16 points to its credit.

In Mecca, Al-Wahda is looking forward to regaining its balance when it hosts its Gulf counterpart at the King Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Al-Sharaia, in a confrontation with which it seeks to return to the winning tone after its heavy loss to Al-Nasr before the break.

Al-Wahda appears in an unstable manner under the leadership of its Greek coach, Denis, as the Meccan team registered a distinguished presence at the beginning of the season before beginning its decline and finishing in the middle of the standings with an uncomfortable point score. He has 16 points, which is similar to all teams.

As for the Al-Khaleej team, it seeks to continue its victorious journey after its victory over Al-Tai before the final break. The team is missing the services of its player Khaled Nari after he received a red card in the last match against Al-Tai.