JEDDAH: The Zain Saudi Professional League 2009-2010 kicks off Tuesday with two matches taking place. In the first match, Al-Ahli hosts Al-Raid at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, while another Jeddah-based club, Al-Ittihad, travels to Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province for the day’s second match against Al-Fateh. All 12 teams entered in the league have completed preparations for the long football season.
A large number of fans is expected to throng Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium as Ahli and the four imports it signed this season undergo initial scrutiny.
Ahli finished third in the league with 40 points from 11 wins, seven draws and four losses. Of Al-Raid, nothing exciting has come out from its camp. Nearly relegated to the First Division, Al-Raid has a league ranking of 10th with 19 points.
The defending champion Ittihad will be looking to make an impressive start as it tries to duplicate its success of last season.
Ittihad finished the league with a table-topping 55 points from 17 wins, four draws and one loss. Al-Fateh is a league newcomer hoping to make a good first impression against the defending champion.
Al-Fateh surprised everyone when the team eliminated Ahli in the round of 16 in the Crown Prince Cup competition last year after winning 2-1. Fateh faced Shabab in the quarterfinals but then lost 1-0 in a gallant stand.
Al-Hilal is the winningest team in this competition with 11 titles (1977, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2005 and 2008). Ittihad is second in the list with eight titles (1982, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2009), Al-Nasr third with six (1976, 1980, 1981, 1989, 1994 and 1995), Al-Shabab fourth with five (1991, 1992, 1993, 2004 and 2006), while Al-Ittifaq and Ahli fifth and sixth with two titles each, Ittifaq 1983 and 1987 and Ahli in 1978 and 1984.
