On Saturday, all eyes will turn towards the “Radiant Jewel” Stadium in Jeddah, where Al-Nasr will host Al-Ittihad at the summit of the fifth round of the Saudi Professional League, which is considered an “early classic” between two teams that have not yet known a loss, but it carries double importance for the guests seeking to protect the full mark and not give up any point in the race for leadership, while Al-Ittihad is armed with the ground and the audience. In search of stopping the victory movement and returning to the path of victories.
Al-Nasr enters the summit as a partner at the top of the standings before the start of the round’s competitions, after collecting the full score (12 points) from 4 matches, in an ideal start to the work provided by the Australian Postecoglou since taking over the leadership of the team.
Al-Nasr’s wonderful start was not limited to the league competitions, as it succeeded in winning all its official matches so far, and qualified for the round of 16 of the King’s Cup, after beating Diriyah, in addition to its 4 consecutive victories in the league, the last of which was against Al-Taawoun with a score of 2-1.
Al-Nasr aspires to leave Jeddah with 3 points and continue its journey without faltering, especially since any neglect of points, even a draw, may cost it away from the lead in light of the closeness of the competition at the beginning of the season.
Attacking solidity appears to be one of the most prominent weapons on which victory depends, but the Al-Ittihad test will be different in nature, especially since the home owners have not suffered any loss so far.
Al-Ittihad has 8 points from 4 matches, coming from two victories and two draws, but it enters the confrontation looking for compensation after losing two points in the last round with a goalless draw against Al-Fateh.
German Jens Vissing, Al-Ittihad's coach, realizes that facing Al-Nasr requires a different appearance on the offensive level after failing to reach the net in the last match, while the team is counting on the ground staff and the audience to stop its rival's winning streak and achieve a victory that would bring it closer to the leading teams.
Al-Ittihad strengthened its options before the summit by contracting with Colombian Richard Royce, who arrived in Jeddah on Thursday evening, while the possibility of his participation against Al-Nasr remains dependent on the extent of his readiness and the decision of coach Vissing.
The summit holds intense competition, even with Al-Ittihad’s performance declining so far, but the crowd atmosphere accompanying the match gives it greater competitiveness, while Al-Nasr has brilliant names on the offensive side, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, Koeman, Sadio Mane, and Joao Felix.
In Buraidah, 3 points appear to be an urgent demand when Al-Taawoun hosts its counterpart Al-Fateh, facing a combination of two teams that have not tasted victory yet.
Al-Taawoun continues its modest appearance, far from the image it was known for in previous seasons, as it played 4 matches, drawing two and losing two, to collect only two points and occupy 15th place before the start of the round’s competitions.
Serbian Zarko Lazetic is faced with the need to find solutions that will return his team to the path of victories, especially since the continued bleeding of points will double the pressure after a start that did not match the team’s ambitions.
The confrontation gains additional importance for cooperation before the break, in light of his commitment this season to participating in the “AFC Champions League 2”, a tournament for which he has great ambitions after reaching the semi-finals in his previous participation.
On the other hand, the circumstances of Al-Fateh do not differ much, as the team of Saudi coach Khaled Al-Atwi enters the match with two points as well, after drawing twice and suffering two losses during the first 4 rounds.
But Al-Fateh arrives at Buraidah in a relatively better way after the level it showed against Al-Ittihad in the last round, when it succeeded in coming away with a goalless draw, benefiting from the remarkable brilliance of its Croatian goalkeeper Adrian Schemper.
Al-Atawi hopes that the improvement shown against Al-Ittihad will be translated into a first victory, especially since the 3 points will give his team a great morale boost and keep it away from the bottom positions before the break.
In Al Majmaah, Al-Faisaly receives its counterpart Al-Hazm in another confrontation that carries with it an important struggle for points, especially for the landowners who are still searching for their first victory.
Al-Faisaly's start was not as he had hoped, as he played 4 matches during which he suffered 3 defeats and one draw, and found himself early among the teams at the bottom of the standings.
Victory has become an important requirement for Al-Faisaly in order to stop the loss of points and get out of the troubled start, but his task will not be easy for Al-Hazm, which in turn is looking to restore the winning tone.
Al-Hazm has 4 points, and enters the confrontation after losing to a 1-1 draw against Al-Shabab in the last round, and is looking forward to returning from Al-Majmaa with a positive result that strengthens its position in the standings.
Irish coach Brendan Rodgers, Al-Qadisiyah coach, has reached the decisive point regarding determining the names of the eight players who will represent the team in the Saudi Professional League championship.
The rest of the names will also be allowed to move to other clubs, whether on loan or even the final transfer, in the event that they do not want to leave the league list and are satisfied with their presence in the elite AFC Champions League and the Saudi Super Cup, as well as the remaining rounds of the King’s Cup tournament.
Last week, Al-Qadisiyah got rid of Moroccan player Sofiane Al-Karawani, who was loaned to the Portuguese club Benfica, while the Portuguese player Otavio moved to the Qatari club Al-Rayyan, and before them a number of young names from foreign players were transferred to European clubs.
The comparison between the German Julian Weigl and the Spaniard Cameron Boutrias has reached the decisive point, with the coach having the advantage of settling on Weigl and the presence of a serious offer for Cameron to move to the German club Bremen, although there are those who believe that he is technically better than Weigl, and therefore deserves to stay, but the Spanish player’s desire to return to Europe may be the deciding factor.
The two players were on the list for the last match against Diriyah, where Weigl started and Boutrias was on the bench and participated in the second half, but their presence was the result of the absence of the Dutch player Reynders, who was absent due to special circumstances that some sources indicate are related to his family and new social life.
Al-Qadisiyah Club must raise its list next Sunday regarding the eight names that it wishes to continue in the league championship, while negotiations are underway with other foreign names that accept their presence in other tournaments other than the league, specifically the AFC Champions League for the elite, the Saudi Super Cup, and the King’s Cup.
On the technical level, Al-Qadisiyah quickly regained its momentum and positive results after overcoming the shock of the loss to Al-Ittihad in the second round of the Saudi Professional League Championship, where it achieved three consecutive victories over NEOM Al-Faisaly and Al-Diriyah, raising its score to 12 points by the end of the fifth round.
This strong return to victories can enable the team to reaffirm its determination to compete in the league through the next confrontation in which it will face Al-Ahly next Monday in the city of Dammam, as it will represent a new test of the team’s capabilities and the possibility of competing and taking a step forward in the league this season after being satisfied with fourth place in the last two seasons.
Despite the absence of its star player, Reinders, who won the star in the match against NEOM, Al-Qadisiyah succeeded in achieving several gains against Al-Diriyah, the first of which is confirming its ability to overcome matches that are considered easy “in theory” and extinguishing the spree of the team returning from Al-Sharqiya with the three points against Al-Ettifaq.
But the main technical gains were represented by the return of Mexican scorer Julian Quinones to scoring and scoring the second goal in a beautiful way against the host, and even gaining stardom in that match. This gives him a great incentive to return strongly to scoring with the brilliance of his Italian colleague Retegui, who has scored three goals so far and has shown his determination to remove all doubts about the feasibility of his continuation after his performances and his less-than-expected scoring tally in the first season, even though he came to Al-Qadisiyah after achieving the title of top scorer in the Italian League.
Quinones' brilliance is a source of relief regarding the strength of Al-Qadisiyah's attack and its ability to overcome any defense line, especially since Al-Ahly has had a distinguished defense since last season, regardless of the loss of some of its stars or the decline in their levels.
The young star, Muhammad Abu Al-Shamat, acknowledged the difficulty of the team’s next match against Al-Ahly, regardless of the opponent’s circumstances, stressing immediate preparation for it after returning to the city of Al-Khobar.
While Coach Rodgers believes that Al-Qadisiyah has regained its balance and prestige after its stumble against Al-Ittihad, praising the effort and great work provided by the team’s players during matches and training.
