Al Khaleejvs.Al-Hilal

The hosts are ninth heading into this game, while the visitors are an astounding 12 points clear at the top of the league and yet to be beaten.

Match preview

Al Khaleej kicked off their season without a win in their first four league fixtures, leaving many expecting them to be embroiled in yet another relegation battle after surviving by just three points in 2022-23.

While they have shown glimpses of the side that narrowly kept their position in the top division last campaign, such as a run of five matches without victory from the end of September to the beginning of November, Pedro Emanuel's men have put together plenty of good results in-between that have moved them 12 points clear of the drop zone ahead of this game.

Their most notable run has come in recent weeks, seeing them come into this one undefeated in all of their last six league outings, winning three and drawing three.

That run saw Al Khaleej pick up results against two sides above them in the table, wins over Al Fateh and Damac, and they are now looking to once again take points from a superior team when they host Al-Hilal on Friday.

The visitors had an extremely disappointing time last season compared to the high standards they have set themselves in recent years, failing to win the league for the first time in four years.

Not only did they fail to win the league, but they finished 13 points behind the eventual winners Al-Ittihad in third place, the first time they have finished outside of the top two since a third-place finish in 2014-15.

They are back to their very best this campaign though, well on the way to winning their sixth title in eight years and their 19th altogether, moving them to 10 more than the next most successful team in Al-Ittihad who have won nine.

This season has seen Al-Hilal produce one of their best yet, winning 24 and drawing two of the 26 games they have played so far in the league, leaving them unbeaten and 12 points clear of second place.

They will be looking to continue that outstanding run against Al Khaleej in this upcoming fixture, and they will be going into this one as strong favourites.

Al Khaleej Saudi Pro League form:

D

D

W

D

W

W

Al-Hilal Saudi Pro League form:

W

W

W

W

W

W

Al-Hilal form (all competitions):

W

W

W

W

W

W

Team News

Emanuel could be without two players for this match, leaving his side weakened as they come up against the league leaders.

Veteran midfielder Woo-Young Jung will be out as he serves the second game of his suspension following a straight red card against Damac, while summer signing Lisandro Lopez, who has started all but one match this season, was taken off after 25 minutes with injury in their previous outing against Al-Raed.

Joint top-scorer Fabio Martins failed to make an appearance in their 1-0 win over Al-Raed, but he should join goalscoring partner Khaled Narey, who has three goals in his last four matches, for this one.

As for the visitors, they will continue to be without their marquee signing Neymar after he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in October that is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the season.

Muteb Al Mufarrij joins the Brazilian on the treatment table with his own cruciate ligament injury that will keep him sidelined until the end of the campaign.

Nasser Al-Dawsari is the final player missing for this upcoming match, as he sits out with a muscle injury that he is expected to return from before the end of the month.

Al Khaleej possible starting lineup:

Sehic; Al Hamsal, Al-Khabrani, Masoud, Rebocho; Hamzi, Adams, Rodrigues; Narey, Al-Salem, Martins

Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:

Bono; Abdulhamid, Koulibaly, Albulayhi, Lodi; Neves, Milinkovic-Savic; Michael, Malcom, Al-Dawsari; Al-Shehri

We say: Al Khaleej 0-3 Al-Hilal

The home side may be enjoying their best run of the season heading into this encounter with the league leaders, but Al-Hilal have proved to be a class ahead of every other team in the league this season, and we expect them to comfortably win this one.

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