JEDDAH: Al-Itthihad will clash with holders Al-Hilal that will decide who will be crowned champions of the Saudi Professional league that concludes with six matches today.
Ittihad are on top of the standings with 53 points followed by challengers Hilal with 51 points.
It will be a repeat of last year’s final when the two teams met. On that occasion Hilal got the better of Ittihad by a solitary goal at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal stadium Jeddah and will want history to repeat itself this year too.
Both teams finished with 48 points each, but Hilal were declared winners as they had tied their first leg match with Ittihad 0-0.
However, this time it will be different as there are two points separating the two.
For Hilal it will be a must-win situation if they are going to bag the title while their rivals are only a point away from being champions.
Both teams have had their share of luck and are the best seen in the league during the past two years.
Hilal will be playing on their home ground and will have the backing from huge vociferous fans that will want them to win their 12th title since the team’s inception.
On the other hand, Ittihad will be looking to avenge their last year’s defeat and will make sure that they will not repeat their mistakes on their way to their eighth title. The last year’s runners-up will also be under pressure because a loss for them this season will leave them with no silverware for the second season in a row.
The last occasion Ittihad won a title was way back in 2007 when they beat Hilal 2-1 in the King’s Cup final.
Both teams lost a match during the league.
Hilal to Najran 2-1 in October last year while Ittihad went down fighting to their arch city rivals Al-Ahli 2-1 on Jan. 24 this year.
Ittihad has 16 wins from 21 matches and four draws while Hilal were winners on 15 occassions from 21 matches and five matches were drawn.
Ittihad proved to have the strongest striking force having scored 55 goals compared to 40 by Hilal.
Hilal proved to have a solid defense line including the man under the bar, conceding only seven goals compared to 20 goals scored against Ittihad.
Ittihad’s Moroccan striker, Hisham Busharwan is the highest goal-scorer till date with 11 followed by Hilal’s Yaser Al-Qahtani with 10 goals.
Looking at the teams’ starting line-up, Hilal has a better defense than their rivals.
Looking at both team lines starting with Hilal defense line, as mentioned before, Hilal takes the upper hand over Ittihad’s defense line with only seven goals scored against Hilal.
Hilal’s defense consists of Osama Hawsawi, Majed Al-Marshadi, Abdullah Al-Zuri and Muhammad Nami. In goal they have the legendary Muhammad Al-Daie.
Osama Al-Muwallad, Hamad Al-Muntasheri, Saleh Al-Sagri and Obaid Al-Shamrani man the Ittihad backline with the most reliable Mabrouk Zayed in goal.
Midfielders are going to play a crucial role for both teams during the final.
On paper Hilal have an advantage with Christian Wilhelmsson and Tareq Al-Tayeb getting able support from Khaled Aziz and Meriél Radoi. For Ittihad, skipper Muhammad Nur, who is the best player in the Ittihad side, backed up by Ahmad Hadeed, Sultan Al-Numari and Manaf Abu Shageer.
In the forward-line it is difficult to compare both teams with Naif Hazzazi and Busharwan for Ittihad’s and Al-Qahtani and Al-Anbar for Hilal.
Ittihad will miss the presence of star Egyptian striker Emad Miteb who has been sidelined for six months due to a knee injury.
Besides this match, there are five matches to be played. Nasr will host Najran in Riyadh, Ahli will host Al-Hazem in Jeddah, Ittihad to host Al-Raid in Dammam, Wehda to host Al-Watani in Makkah and Abha to host Al-Shabab in Abha.
