Al-Hilal's first football team is preparing to continue its journey to defend its lead in the Saudi Professional League standings, when it visits its neighbor, Al-Riyadh team, on Sunday evening, at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium in the capital, Riyadh, as part of the eighteenth round of the competition.
A history of blue dominance
Al-Hilal enters this match armed with a long history of overwhelming superiority in direct encounters with their hosts during the professional league era. The two teams have met on five previous occasions, with Al-Hilal dominating, securing four victories, while one match ended in a draw. Al-Riyadh has yet to taste victory in this period. The statistics reflect this technical disparity: Al-Hilal's attack has netted 15 goals against Al-Riyadh, while the latter has only managed three, highlighting the significant technical and historical gap between the two clubs.
Divergent ambitions: between the title and the struggle for survival
The match takes on added importance given the stark contrast in the two teams' ambitions. Al-Hilal sits alone atop the standings with 44 points, accumulated from 14 wins and two draws, remaining undefeated so far. The team has been performing steadily and impressively, having not dropped a single point in their last 13 consecutive matches. Today, they aim to add three more points to solidify their lead and keep them far ahead of their closest rivals, amidst the fierce competition in the league this season, fueled by the influx of international stars.
On the other hand, Al-Riyadh finds itself in a precarious position, languishing in 16th place with a mere 10 points, accumulated from two wins and four draws, while suffering ten defeats. The home team is desperate to break its losing streak, having failed to secure a victory in its last ten matches, managing only a handful of points. This puts them under immense pressure to deliver a positive result that could prove crucial in turning their season around and escaping the threat of relegation.
Stars Battalion and the Challenge of the Field
Technically, Al-Hilal relies on an arsenal of international and local stars to decide the match early, as the list includes Portuguese Ruben Neves, the midfield maestro, Serbian Sergej Savic, and Brazilian Malcom, in addition to the names mentioned in the reports such as Marcos Leonardo, Frenchman Theo Hernandez, and Spaniard Pablo Mari, as well as the local pillars represented by Hassan Tambakti, Mohamed Kanno, and star Salem Al-Dawsari.
On the other hand, despite the difficulty of the task, Al-Riyadh relies on some players who could make a difference or withstand Al-Hilal's onslaught, such as Iraqi Ibrahim Bayesh, experienced Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan, French defender Yoann Barbet, his compatriot Teddy Oko, Spaniard Poirier, Portuguese Tozé, and Ivorian Ismaël Soro. Al-Riyadh fans hope their team can pull off a major upset that will shake up the bottom of the Saudi league standings.
