Preview: Al Shabab vs. Al-Hilal – prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to move into first place in the Saudi Professional League, Al-Hilal travel to Al-Shabab Club Stadium to take on Al Shabaab on Saturday.

Having lost the last three meetings between the two teams, the White Lions will go into the weekend looking to get one over the visitors and strengthen their position in the upper echelons of the table.

Match preview

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Al Shabab failed to move into the top three places inSaudi Professional League standings as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Al-Okhdood at the Prince Hathloul bin Abdulaziz Sports City on Friday.

The White Lions took a lead in the first half after that Naive Assery inadvertently turned the ball into his own net on the stroke of half time before Knowledge Musona restored parity in the 49th minute.

Prior to that, Al Shabab were on a run of four back-to-back wins across all competitions, including a 2-0 win over Al Riyadh in the round of 16 of the King’s Cup thanks to goals from Harounre Camara and veteran midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura.

After two back-to-back away games, Vitor Pereira‘s men now return home boasting the division’s second-best record, having picked up 15 points from their five games while scoring 14 goals and conceding four so far.

Al Shabab have picked up 22 points from 11 Pro League matches to sit fourth in the standings, level with Al Nassr in third and Al Qadsiah in fifth.

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On the other hand, Al-Hilal’s 100% record in the AFC Champions League came to an end as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Qatar-based Al-Sadd when the teams met at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Tuesday.

Ali Albulayhi broke the deadlock after just 10 minutes to put the visitors on their way, but Paulo Otavio struck with 19 minutes left on the clock to force a share of the turnover.

Al-Hilal have now picked up 13 points from a possible 15 to finish second in the Champions League Western Division table, two points clear of first-placed Al Ahli, who boast a perfect record.

Jorge Jesus‘s men now turn their attention to the Pro League, where they suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday as they were beaten 3-2 by Al-Khaleej after conceding an 85th-minute winner.

Al-Hilal have picked up nine wins and a draw from their 11 league matches to collect 28 points from a possible 33 to finish second in the table, two points behind first-placed Al Ittihad.

Al Shabab Saudi Pro League form:

Al-Hilal Saudi Pro League form:

Al-Hilal form (all competitions):

Team news

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Al Shabab will take to the field without the attacking duo Fahad Al-Muwallad and former Atletico Madrid man Yannick Carrasco, who continue their spells on the sidelines.

Veteran goalkeeper Seung-gyu Kim has missed each of the last four games since picking up a cruciate ligament test against Al Orubah on October 24 and is out for the hosts.

Moroccan forward Abderrazak Hamdallah missed the match against Al Okhdood due to a muscle injury and the 33-year-old is a major doubt for Saturday’s match.

The absence of Neymar remains the biggest talking point for Al-Hilal, with the 32-year-old expected to return from a hamstring injury in mid-December.

He is joined on the club’s injury list by a Brazilian Malcolm and experienced midfielder Ruben Nevesthat has been out of action until January due to a patellar tendon rupture.

Al Shabab possible starting line-up:
Bounou; Tambakti, Koulibaly, Al-Bulayhi; Cancelo, Lodi, Kanno, Al Dawsari; Leonardo, Al-Dawsari, Mitrovic

Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:
Al-Mayouf; Renan, Hoedt, Al Sharari; Alsebyani, Juwayr, Cuellar, Al-Thain; Guanca, Podence, Bonaventura

We say: Al Shabab 0-2 Al-Hilal

Al Shabab have put together some fine form in recent weeks but are in for a tough 90 minutes against a star-studded Al-Hilal side unbeaten in 19 of their last 20 matches.

Given the gulf in class and quality between the two teams, we’re backing Jesus’ men to come away with all three points at the Al-Shabab Club Stadium.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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