The curtain falls on Wednesday on the sixth round of the Saudi Professional League with three matches, led by Al-Nasr and Abha, where the Al-Asmi team is looking for a quick recovery after its first stumble this season, and taking advantage of the fall of the leaders Al-Hilal to reduce the gap with them, while Al-Fateh welcomes its counterpart Al-Diriyah in Al-Ahsa in a confrontation that brings together two teams looking to restore balance, and Al-Shabab is the guest of Al-Khuloud in Al-Rass and is still chasing its first victory.
Al-Nasr returns to Al-Awal Park Stadium after its perfect start in the last round was interrupted by a loss to Al-Ittihad 1-2, which is the team’s first this season after a series of successive victories under the leadership of Australian Postecoglou.
Despite the loss, the results of the current round gave Al-Nasr a valuable opportunity to reduce the gap with Al-Hilal, after the leader, who has 15 points, faltered, making the victory over Abha sufficient to raise the yellow team’s score to 15 points and quickly return it to the heart of the struggle for the lead.
Therefore, facing Abha seems to be an opportunity that Al-Nasr does not want to waste, not only to capitalize on its competitor’s stumble, but also to show a quick reaction after its first loss, especially since the star-studded team had made a strong start before its series of victories stopped against Al-Ittihad.
Al-Nasr has 12 points from five matches, and is looking for its fifth victory in the league, against a competitor who is experiencing difficult circumstances and is at the bottom of the table.
Abha has not succeeded in achieving any victory since its return to the Saudi Professional League, as it was satisfied with one draw and four losses, collecting only one point and occupying last place before the start of Wednesday’s matches. His last loss to Al-Ettifaq came in a clean double, making his position more difficult, while the test becomes more complicated this time against Al-Nasr, which enters the confrontation driven by its desire to compensate and quickly return to the path of victories.
In Al-Ahsa, Al-Fateh receives its counterpart Al-Diriyah in a match that represents great importance for both parties, as the home side is still searching for its first victory, while the visitors are trying to overcome their recent loss to Al-Qadisiyah.
Al-Fateh, led by the national team, Khaled Al-Atawi, is going through a difficult start this season, as it did not succeed in achieving victory in five rounds, and was satisfied with three draws versus two losses, collecting 3 points that placed it in sixteenth place.
As the rounds progressed, Al-Fateh became more in need of converting some of its improved levels into actual results, as the continued absence of victories would put the team under great pressure in the late positions.
But Al-Fateh's mission will not be easy for Al-Diriyah, which, despite losing to Al-Qadisiyah by two clean goals in the last round, showed during the first weeks that it possesses many solutions and names capable of making a difference.
Al-Diriyah has seven points, occupying ninth place before the start of the round’s competitions, and is looking forward to shaking off the dust of the recent loss and returning to the path it appeared on before that, especially after its new deals began to clearly leave their mark.
In Al-Rass, Al-Khuloud receives its counterpart Al-Shabab in a seemingly disparate confrontation between a team that has made a remarkable start for itself and another that has not yet found its way to victory.
Al-Khuloud continues to present itself in a distinguished way this season, as it collected 9 points that placed it in seventh place, and its last appearance was in a 2-2 draw against Al-Fayhaa in the last round.
Since the beginning of the season, Al-Khuloud has shown its ability to compete and produce positive results against various opponents, becoming one of the teams that imposed its presence early, and is looking forward to investing in facing Al-Shabab to strengthen its score and continue approaching the leading positions.
On the other hand, Al-Shabab arrives at Al-Ras amid great pressure after five rounds have passed without the team achieving any victory. Al-Shabab suffered its second loss this season against Al-Hilal with a clean double in the last round, freezing its score at 3 points and falling to fifteenth place, in a start completely far from the team’s aspirations.
Achieving the first victory has become an urgent requirement for the youth to stop the loss of points and stay away from the late positions, but the task will not be easy for Al-Khouloud, who is in a better technical and moral state, and in turn aspires to continue his remarkable progress.
After Al Hilal’s historic “no-loss” series in the Saudi Professional League competition, which extended to 47 consecutive matches since its loss to Al-Nassr with a score of 1-3 in the season before last, the NEOM team inflicted the first loss on Al-Azraq to make the event happen in an exciting confrontation at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
This loss is also the first loss for Italian coach Simone Inzaghi of Al Hilal in all tournaments and competitions since the start of last season’s competitions after leading the team in the Club World Cup, where Al Hilal played 54 consecutive matches under his management, managing to win 42 matches, while stumbling to a draw on 12 occasions.
The Blue loss in this match was a source of questions and discontent in the Blue Stadium, not only in terms of the result, but even in terms of the team’s technical level throughout the 90 minutes, as it was clear that the Blue had a shaky start since the match’s whistle sounded, with a presence of mind and high concentration on the part of the NEOM players who imposed themselves inside the green rectangle, on both the defensive and offensive levels until the final whistle.
It also became clear the tactical superiority of the French coach Christophe Galtier, coach of NEOM, over his Italian counterpart Simone Inzaghi, through his distinguished reading of the course of the match and knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the opposing team. Although the result of each team’s possession of the ball, according to the “SofaScore” website, the balance favors Al-Hilal by 63 percent, compared to 37 percent for NEOM, this does not mean that Al-Azraq was superior on the field. On the contrary, NEOM was the dominant team. There is a big difference between the concepts of possession and control, because possession means possessing the ball the most time by transferring it, and in many moments it may witness that no danger is posed to the opponent’s goal, while the control that the NEOM team succeeded in is what means imposing your ideas and control. In the match, whether with or without the ball, they excelled in the defensive aspect, as well as the offensive aspects.
In reference to the Blue Technical decline in the match, with the great defensive superiority of NEOM, this match is the least match in which Al Hilal created dangerous chances in its sixth match in the league this season, as it had, according to the “SofaScore” website, only one dangerous chance, while it had 7 dangerous chances against Al-Shabab, 4 chances against Al-Ahly, 7 chances against Al-Khaleej, 11 chances against Al-Fayhaa, and in the opening match against Al-Faisaly 4 chances, which demonstrates NEOM’s superiority on the field, compared to the appearance of NEOM. Blue was weak throughout the course of the match.
This disappointing loss for Al-Azraq fans and fans came after a positive start in which many expected it would be a different start, accompanied by the absolute brilliance of their team inside the green rectangle, after a season in which the team was in many matches unconvincing, especially after the great polarizations carried out by the club’s management this summer, which made Inzaghi happy and completely satisfied.
This loss was not just three lost points in a long race for the league title, but rather came at a time that opened the doors to questions again about the ability of the Italian Inzaghi to transform the abundance of options that were placed in his hands, into a team capable of imposing its personality in the matches. Will this defeat be the beginning of a strong start for the Blues in the upcoming competitions, especially since the Italian coach announced that he took responsibility for the loss, or will it confirm the validity of the opinions that have repeatedly said that Inzaghi’s method does not suit Al Hilal, especially since the team that has these types of names. He must be able to create solutions and be more versatile in reaching the opponent's goal, especially when he finds himself facing an opponent who closes spaces with a tight defensive organization.
