Al-Hilal can reclaim the Saudi Pro League summit — at least temporarily — with an away victory over a faltering Al-Taawoun side in their rescheduled matchday 10 clash on Tuesday.
Simone Inzaghi’s men slipped to second, two points behind Al-Nassr, following Saturday’s 1–1 home draw in the Clasico against 10-man Al Ittihad, but with the leaders set to play on Wednesday, the Blue Waves have a chance to seize top spot as they face hosts who have lost four of their last six games (W1, D1).
Match preview
In a season where momentum has swung between the current top two, Al-Hilal were the latest to relinquish top spot after letting slip a six-point lead at the summit, a consequence of their recent inability to turn draws into victories.
Still the only side yet to taste defeat in the Saudi top flight this season, the Blue Waves have now dropped points in four of their last six league games, three of which were matches in which they opened the scoring.
Saturday’s Clasico draw carries an extra level of disappointment for Al-Hilal, who failed to hold on to their early lead from a fifth-minute Malcolm strike, despite being a man up following Hassan Kadesh’s ninth-minute dismissal.
Also at risk of slipping further, with third-placed Al-Ahli just one point behind, the Blue Waves can ill-afford another dropped result on Tuesday, though they can rely on their dominance against Al-Taawoun.
Indeed, Al-Hilal have won 12 of the last 13 meetings between the sides (L1), including each of the most recent six, scoring two or more goals and keeping clean sheets across that spell, with the latest being a 2–0 success in March last year.
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Facing Al-Hilal for the first time this season — after all matchday 10 fixtures were postponed due to the national team’s run to the FIFA Arab Cup semi-finals in December — Al-Taawoun come into this clash aiming to prevent an unprecedented sequence of back-to-back home defeats this season.
Despite fighting back from a two-goal deficit courtesy of strikes from Roger Martinez and Mohammed Al Dossari, the Wolves ultimately suffered a 3–2 loss as a late strike from Fashion Sakala saw Al-Fayha claim all three points at Buraidah last Friday.
That result extended a poor run of form for Pericles Chamusca’s side, who are now winless in their last four outings (D1, L3), while a 1–0 victory over Al-Kholood remains Al-Taawoun’s only success in their last seven games (D2, L4), casting doubt over their continental ambitions.
Currently fifth in the league table, the Wolves sit 11 points off the top four with 12 games remaining, while failure to secure victory over their unbeaten visitors could see them finish the round as low as seventh.
However, with six wins from 11 home games in the top-flight campaign (D3, L2), Al-Taawoun will feel they have enough to cause an upset in Tuesday’s clash.
Al-Taawoun Saudi Pro League form:
Al-Hilal Saudi Pro League form:
Al-Hilal form (all competitions):
Team News
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Al-Taawoun are expected to remain without attacker Musa Barrow, who continues his lengthy recovery from a serious knee injury.
Fellow winger Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi is also a doubt, having missed the matchday squad for a sixth consecutive outing, while centre-back Andrei Girotto has been absent for the last seven games.
Christopher Zambrano could be unavailable for a fourth straight match, so Martinez is likely to lead the line once more, particularly after scoring in the previous game.
Having blanked against his former team on Saturday, Karim Benzema has now failed to find the net in back-to-back games, with his only goals coming in a hat-trick on his Al-Hilal debut, and the veteran striker will be looking to rediscover his scoring touch.
Meanwhile, Marcos Leonardo has reportedly been instructed to train in isolation in recent weeks and could be omitted for a seventh consecutive outing across domestic and continental competitions.
Also affected by squad restrictions, ex-Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez and former Arsenal defender Pablo Mari have both been left out of Al-Hilal’s Saudi Pro League and domestic cup rosters due to the foreign player cap, meaning they will be absent once again.
Al-Taawoun possible starting lineup:
Maylson; Mahzari, Al Dossari, Lajami, Al Mufarrij; Flavio, El Mahdioui, Fulgini; Petkov, Martinez, Biel
Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Al-Harbi, Koulibaly, Al-Tambakti, Hernandez; Milinkovic-Savic, Neves, Kanno; Malcolm, Benzema, Salem Al-Dawsari
We say: Al-Taawoun 1-2 Al-Hilal
Both sides will be desperate for victory to avoid slipping further down the table, so an end-to-end affair is likely in Buraidah on Tuesday, though the hosts face an uphill task against visitors who remain unbeaten in all 33 of their games this season (W26, D7).
As a result, we are tipping Al-Hilal to outscore Al-Taawoun in this encounter, buoyed by their superior quality, dominance in this fixture, and the fact that the Blue Waves have won seven of their 10 away games (D3) this league campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
