Al-Ahli Jeddah
- Al Ahli Jeddah have won three and drawn two of their last five league games.
- Al-Ahli are third with 50 points from 21 games.
- Al-Ahli are an aggressive, intense pressing side that play possession football and switch with lightning speed, a style instilled by Matthias Jaissle that has made them a force on the continent.
Al-Najma
- Al Najma have won one, drawn one and lost three of their last five league matches.
- Al-Najma are rock bottom of the standings, sitting 18th with just 8 points from 21 matches.
- Al-Najma on the other hand are a reactive team that like to sit deep and soak up pressure before breaking and exploiting the space on the break.
Al-Ahli
- The hosts are powered by the lethal finishing of Englishman Ivan Toney.
- The former Brentford front man has scored 20 goals in 20 league appearances this term and five of Al-Ahli’s last ten goals.
Al-Najma
They haven’t been too successful in this regard though, with their top scorer midfielder Ali Jasim netting just 4 times in 20 league appearances , leaving a huge hole in their attacking output.
Betting Insights
- Al-Ahli are the overwhelming favorites with the odds at 1.1 for Thursday’s clash with Al-Najma and the visitors are the big minnows, but the odds might not tell the whole story here.
- Mario Silva has attempted to make his team more solid since his arrival, but they remain leaky on the road, shipping 22 goals in their 11 away fixtures so far this season, an average of 2.00 per-game in the league.
- Al-Ahli have conceded just 0.91 goals per-game at home, averaging 2.27 scored, and this one could be one-way traffic with Al-Ahli winning their last two and losing none of their previous 11 home league games.
- With Al-Najma losing both of their last two away games, backing over 2.5 goals at 1.26 looks the way to go.
Prediction
- Expect Al-Ahli to take the win given the gap in quality and form.
- Consider the over 2.5 goals market as a likely outcome.
