Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal 05/04/2024
On Friday night the clash Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal from the Saudi Pro League promises to be open and filled with scoring chances for both teams. Will the champions-to-be Al Hilal extend their world record for consecutive wins? Can Al Khaleej capitalise on their opponent’s distraction with an Asian Champions League semifinal looming for the Blue Wave?
Below we give you all the news from the two camps before the Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal match. Also, we pick our players to watch and try to predict for you the starting line-ups.
Al Khaleej latest: Can the home advantage help them to stop the Blue Wave’s tsunami of wins?
Al Khaleej flirted with danger all of last season and finished 14th out of 16 teams. They are enjoying a much better campaign this time around though. Al Khaleej remains in the top 10.
With 9 wins and only 10 defeats so far Al Khaleej already looks to have secured safety. They hold a 12-point lead over the bottom 3 and will enter the coming match without feeling any serious pressure.
Al Khaleej team news
There are no major injury issues reported. It seems all key players are fit and available. However, the important Woo-young Jung will miss this match suspended.
Al Khaleej player to watch: Fabio Martins
Our choice for a player to watch from the home team for the Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal clash falls on the Portuguese playmaker Fabio Martins. Martins leads the team both for goals scored (7) and assists (4). Pretty much everything positive in attack is channelled through him so we have to pick him as our most important player from the home team.
Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal line-up
Sehic (GK), Rebocho, Lopez, Al Hamsal, Al Khabrani, Rodrigues, Adams, Hamzi, Martins, Al Salem, Narey
Al Hilal latest: Will the absence of Aleksandr Mitrovic end the winning march?
Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal could prove to be trickier than many expect match for the Blue Wave. Al Hilal already pretty much have the title in the Saudi Pro League secured. The champions for 3 of the last 4 seasons hold a 12-point lead at the top after opening the campaign with the staggering W24 D2 L0 record.
Al Hilal set a new world record recently for the most consecutive wins. Currently, the Blue Wave achieved 31 wins in a row and they keep counting.
All that said, with the domestic title pretty much guaranteed now Al Hilal understandably switched their main focus towards the Asian Champions League. Only a few days after the Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal match the Blue Wave play their first leg of a tough semifinal matchup vs Al Ahli (UAE), so many expect that regular starters could be rested this Friday.
Al Hilal team news
Al Hilal achieved all these wins without their Brazilian star Neymar. He got hurt back in October and continues to be in rehabilitation. However, a big reason for all these wins was the Serbian centre-forward Mitrovic – 22 goals in 22 league appearances. Unfortunately, for Al Hilal, he too will miss this game due to an injury.
Al Hilal player to watch: Salem Al Dawsari
With both Neymar and Mitrovic unavailable the role of the explosive Saudi winger Salem Al Dawsari becomes even more important. Al Dawsari is the highest-scoring Saudi Arabian in the league with 13 goals in 24 appearances. He knows how to find pockets of space and in the coming match, he could even operate as a false nine in Mitrovic’s absence.
Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal line-up
Bono (GK), Abdulhamid, Koulibaly, Al Bulaihi, Lodi, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Michael, Malcom, Al Hamdan, Al Dawsari
Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal – head-to-head and other stats
- Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal H2H – W1 D0 L14 – Al Hilal won all of the last nine clashes between the teams.
- Al Hilal are enjoying a run of 31 consecutive wins in all competitions.
- Al Khaleej failed to score in all of their last three games vs Al Hilal.