Al Taawoun
- Al-Khaleej and Al-Taawoun face off in a vital clash at the top of the Saudi Pro League on Saturday when the home side will be looking to make a strong statement by beating the mid-table visitors.
- Al-Taawoun sit just inside the top tier of the Pro League table, probably around 5th place on around 35-38 points, which should be enough to ensure they are in the mix for continental qualification.
- Péricles Chamusca has the home team looking much more solid than last season.
- He has put a practical team on the field this year that can play with width, energy and tempo when they need to, but they can also sit deep and sting teams on the counter-attack.
- They are a very dangerous team to play against and are unbeaten in their last four competitive games against Al-Khaleej.
Al Khaleej
- The visitors arrive in excellent form having won three of their last five with a 4-1 win over Al Akhdoud and a 4-0 win over Damac sandwiched around a 1-4 defeat at Al Ahli and a 0-0 draw with Al Shabab.
- Joshua King leads the line for Al-Khaleej and has hit double figures for the season already, but his strikeforce have got into a hot streak in recent weeks.
- Konstantinos Fortounis pulls the strings in midfield and has been a great addition to the team, particularly for his ability to create from set pieces and link up with King.
Head-to-Head
- The head-to-head record between these clubs is evenly poised, but Al-Taawoun have the momentum, home advantage and higher position in the league so the draw looks better value than the hosts’ odds suggest, but a home win is our selection for a low-risk bet.
- Al-Taawoun are unbeaten in their last four competitive meetings with Al-Khaleej.
Key Players
- Joshua King
- Joshua King leads the line for Al-Khaleej and has hit double figures for the season already, but his strikeforce have got into a hot streak in recent weeks.
- Konstantinos Fortounis
- Konstantinos Fortounis pulls the strings in midfield and has been a great addition to the team, particularly for his ability to create from set pieces and link up with King.
Betting Insights
- Both teams to Net at 2.4 and Over 2.5 Goals at 1.62 do appeal here as both have the personnel to score multiple times.
- Al-Taawoun build attacks from wide areas and use tempo to change the pace of games, but Al-Khaleej have the width and pace to punish their hosts in transition, so we’re expecting both to get on the scoreboard in an closely-fought game.
Prediction
- Al Taawoun and Al Khaleej are both expected to be near full strength for this clash.
- Al-Taawoun have the better recent record against Al Khaleej and should be full of confidence for this encounter.
- Al-Khaleej have scored multiple goals in recent Pro League matches, including 4-1 and 4-0 wins.
