Al Tai and Al Ittihad will hope to halt their losing run when they face off on Friday. Following a 3-0 loss at Damac last week, Faris Al Shamal dropped to 14th place in the standings. They are just one point above the relegation zone. The defending league champions lost 5-2 at Al-Nassr on Boxing Day.
Preview (Al Tai vs. Al Ittihad)
Despite winning successive league games before that, Al Tai’s promising start to the month has turned into the same old same old for the Ha’il-based team. They are currently on a three-match losing streak. This team has struggled with consistency recently. Since May of last season, they have only won three or more straight domestic games. Al Tai has won four games at Prince Abdul Aziz Musa’ed Stadium. They are only four points away from home in this competition, which helps them stay above the relegation zone. Laurentiu Reghecampf’s team is only three points ahead of Al Fayha. They could move up the table swiftly even though they are flirting with relegation.
They have lost four domestic games this season by a single goal and handed up the winning goal twice in stoppage time, yet they have played close in some of their games despite their inability to regularly produce winning performances. In the Saudi top division this season, all but three of their points were earned while they were tied or ahead after forty-five minutes. On November 24, they triumphed at home for the first time, despite trailing Al Raed 2-1 at the half (4-3 victory). Al Ittihad appeared to be in need of a break after losing their last five games in all competitions. Al-Numoor is now 22 points behind the leaders Al-Hilal with just twelve games remaining. It is improbable that they will win the league.
After this match, Marcelo Gallardo will have plenty of time to consider how to turn this club around for the final stretch, as their next league game is on February 15. Al Ittihad has struggled in the second half of their last three league games. They have lost six and scored just once in the last 45 minutes. This is their current three-match losing streak at home.
Team News
Following two cautions in their loss to Damac, Bernard Mensah will not be available for Al Tai. Abdulkarim Al-Sultan may have suffered a cruciate ligament injury. Last to score for them in a domestic match is Tariq Mohammed, who did so on December 8 during a 2-1 loss to Al-Hilal.
Al Ittihad will be without Fabinho due to his two yellow cards from the match against Al-Nassr; Ahmed Bamsaud is ailing; and Omar Hawsawi, Luiz Felipe, Ahmed Hegazi, and Suwailem Al-Manhali are all listed as having injuries that are not known. With his ninth and tenth goals of the domestic season in their loss to Al-Nassr, Abderrazak Hamdallah moved ahead of Karim Benzema for the team lead. The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner had not scored in his last three league games.
Al Tai 1-3 Al Ittihad
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