JEDDAH, 15 January 2008 — Six matches including a potentially high-octane meeting between Al-Ahli and Al-Nasr make up today’s third round action in the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup football tournament.
Ahli, riding the crest of a three-game winning streak in the Saudi League, entertain Nasr at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal stadium here. The sides are tied on six points in Group A with Nasr in the lead on better goal average over Ahli, who are in second place.
Ahli showed spectacular performance the past two matches wining against Taie 3-0 and Wehda 1-0.
Nasr also enjoyed a fast start beating Wehda 3-1 and crushing Ittihad 4-1 in Riyadh last week.
Both teams will be looking for victory as they dispute the top spot of the group.
In the same group, Al-Watani face Wehda in Makkah. Al-Watani are third with six points from two wins against Ittihad and Taie both by identical 2-1 scorelines.
Al-Watani go for the game three points against Wehda and hope that Nasr and Ahli draw their match for a chance to seize the lead. Wehda, on the other hand, are not expected to easily give up with time on their side in the competition. Taie host Al-Ittihad in the third match of the group.
Saddled by defeats, Ittihad could not afford to lose and the same situation holds true for Taie.
In Group B, the top team Al-Hilal travel to Al-Rass for the game against Al-Hazem. Hilal have 6 points from two wins against Najran 3-0 and against Qadisia 3-1. Al-Hazem played only one match against Najran and lost 1-0.
Second-ranked Al-Shabab face Najran. Shabab collected six points from two wins against Qadisia 1-0 and Al-Ittifaq 2-0. Shabab will try to gain ground on Hilal and possibly wrest the lead with a combination of their victory and a Hilal draw or loss against Al-Hazem.
The last match of this group is between Eastern Province teams Ittifaq and Qadisia. Qadisia are last with no points and Ittifaq fifth and also with no points but with one pending match.
