“The Saudi Classic”... Blue dominance throughout history

On Saturday, all eyes are turning towards the “Kingdom Arena” stadium in the capital, Riyadh, where the expected summit between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad is scheduled, in a confrontation that takes the lead in the eighth round of the Saudi Professional League, amid an intense struggle for the top of the standings, while the same round witnesses two confrontations that bring together Al-Hazm with its guest NEOM, and Al-Ittifaq with its Gulf counterpart.

The confrontation between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad carries double importance in the calculations of the competition for the title. The Al-Asmi team enters the match at the top with 18 points, one point ahead of Al-Ittihad, which is in second place, two points ahead of Al-Nasr and Al-Qadisiyah (before the start of this round), and 3 points ahead of fifth-place NEOM.

Al-Hilal is looking forward to strengthening its lead and staying away from its closest pursuers, taking advantage of the ground staff and the public, in addition to restoring a number of its players who were absent due to injury, at a time when Al-Ittihad seeks to seize the lead from its direct competitor, and to continue its series of positive results that have made it the only team that has not suffered a loss since the start of the season.

Al Hilal enters the confrontation in high spirits, having succeeded in overcoming its loss to NEOM with two goals to none, achieving a broad victory over Al Taawoun with a clean six-point win in the round that preceded the stoppage, confirming its rapid return to the path of victories.

The Al-Asmi team achieved a 2-1 victory over Al-Gharafa of Qatar in the first round of the AFC Champions League for the Elite, raising its total number of victories since the beginning of the season to eight in various competitions, compared to one loss.

The news coming from Al Hilal's medical clinic appears positive before the summit, after the team regained the services of a number of its important members, led by captain Salem Al Dosari, who returned to group training after the end of his rehabilitation program to recover from an injury to the patellar tendon in the right knee.

Al-Dosari had missed his team's matches since the beginning of the season, after he underwent surgery on July 21, following the aggravation of the injury he suffered during his participation with the Saudi national team in the 2026 World Cup, before he finished his rehabilitation program and returned to training in preparation for his participation against Al-Ittihad.

Al Hilal training also witnessed the return of Englishman Watkins to the group after recovering from injury, while defender Ali Lagami participated in the first part of group training, as part of the steps for his gradual return to matches.

Italian Simone Inzaghi, Al Hilal's coach, is awaiting the final position of Frenchman Theo Hernandez and Serbian Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, after the former suffered a connective muscle injury that prevented him from participating with his country's national team during the international break, while the latter suffered an injury during his participation with the Serbian national team against the Netherlands in the European Nations League.

On the other hand, Al-Ittihad arrives in Riyadh with great ambitions, after maintaining its record undefeated in the past seven rounds, achieving five victories and two draws, collecting 17 points that placed it in second place in the standings.

The Al-Ittihad team is looking to achieve its fourth victory in a row, a result that will give it the opportunity to take the lead over Al-Hilal, in addition to strengthening its confidence in its ability to compete seriously for the league title.

Al-Ittihad is missing the services of its defender, Hassan Kadish, who suffered an injury during his participation with the Saudi national team in the Arabian Gulf Cup tournament, “Gulf 27,” after the club announced his need for surgical intervention in the left rectus femoris muscle, which is scheduled to be performed on Sunday in Finland.

The loss of Kadesh constitutes a blow to Al-Ittihad’s defensive options, especially since the player was present in all of the team’s matches since the beginning of the season, before the injury kept him away from facing Al-Hilal.

On the other hand, the technical staff led by German Jens Vissing received reassuring news about striker George Ilinichina, who is ready to participate after suffering a minor injury during his first appearance with the Nigerian national team during the international break.

Al-Ittihad is counting on the offensive capabilities of Ilyinkhina, who has scored six goals in nine matches in various competitions since the beginning of the season, to become one of the most prominent elements that the team relies on in the attacking third.

In another match, NEOM will be a guest of Al-Hazm, looking forward to continuing its presence among the leading teams, after collecting 15 points that placed it in fifth place, only three points behind leaders Al-Hilal.

NEOM will miss the services of Alaa Al Hajji for several weeks due to injury, an absence that assistant coach Oleksak described as unfortunate, given the player’s importance in the team’s lineup, especially with the crowded match schedule.

NEOM received a positive boost with the restoration of the readiness of Saeed Benrahma, Valentin Fada and Abbas Al-Hassan, after the players benefited from the pause period to reach the required readiness.

As for Al-Hazm, which is in tenth place with eight points, it is looking forward to taking advantage of the confrontation at home to produce a positive result against one of the teams that has performed at remarkable levels since the beginning of the season, and to improve its position in the ranking table.

In the third confrontation, Al-Ettifaq receives its Gulf counterpart in a meeting during which the two teams search for a return to the path of victories, even if their motives and positions in the rankings differ.

Al-Ettifaq occupies ninth place with 11 points, and hopes to achieve a victory that will give it the opportunity to advance in the standings, especially after it entered the break period following an exciting draw against its traditional rival, Al-Qadisiyah, with a score of 3-3.

As for Al-Khaleej, led by Portuguese coach Gomez, it is experiencing a difficult start, having failed to achieve any victory during its past seven matches, contenting itself with five draws versus two losses, collecting five points that placed it in thirteenth place.

Australian Ange Postecoglou, Al-Nasr coach, expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance after defeating Al-Diriyah by three goals to none, stressing the importance of victory and coming out with a clean sheet against a difficult competitor.

He said in the press conference: We performed well, and it is a relief to achieve the victory. We scored three goals without conceding any. The performance was good against a difficult team, and I am happy with what the players did.

Regarding the possibility of giving young players the opportunity, Al-Nasr coach pointed out that the team possesses a group of promising talents, explaining that the most important thing is choosing the appropriate timing to involve them. He said: We have good young players, and the team includes Saad Haqqwi, Rakan Al-Ghamdi and Awad Aman, and they represent the future of the club.

Postecoglou confirmed his satisfaction with the defensive performance, especially in dealing with set pieces, explaining that Diriyah posed a challenge in this aspect, through long side throws, but he was unable to pose a threat to Al-Nasr’s goal.

He added: I am satisfied with the performance and happy to keep the clean sheet. Diriyah is a good team at set-pieces, and they were taking long throw-ins this evening, but we defended well against them, and we also performed well at taking set-pieces offensively, and we succeeded in scoring a goal from one of them.

In turn, Bruno Lage, Diriyah coach, attributed the loss to the difficulty of preparing for the match in light of the return of international players shortly before the confrontation, stressing that his team needs time to build.

Lage said in the press conference after the match: I am happy with the players’ performance and their adherence to instructions, but I am not happy with the way we received the goals.

Regarding the reasons for Nicola’s non-participation, the Diriyah coach explained that the player returned from his country’s national team suffering from a minor injury.

Lage stressed that relying on three defenders does not necessarily mean adopting a defensive style, explaining: Some people believe that playing with three defenders means that we are a defensive team, but we play in an offensive style. In order to become a great team, we must play aggressively.