Winless in all five Saudi Pro League matches so far, Al Hazem entertain the challenge of Al Tai at the Al-Hazem Club Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the away side make the journey aiming to pick up back to back victories for the first time this term having recently returned to winning ways.

Match preview

Al Hazem were left red-faced as they suffered an embarrassing 5-1 defeat against Al Nassr at the King Abdullah Stadium two Saturdays ago.

First-half goals from Abdulrahman Ghareeb and Abdullah Al Khaibari left Filipe Gouveia's men with a mountain to climb at half time after which Otavio, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane netted in the second half to seal the deal.

Consequently, the Ar Rass-based side remain rooted to the bottom of the Saudi Pro League table, two points adrift of safety as things stand.

Lying in store next is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who have only been beaten in one of the most recent seven editions of this fixture since 2017.

Having let in a whopping seven goals across their last two home matches, Saturday's hosts will need to put on an improved display at the back to stand any chance of coming away with a positive result this weekend.

Al Tai snapped a run of three consecutive defeats by narrowly beating Abha 1-0 at the Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium on September 1.

Off the back of a drab opening 45 minutes, Kresimir Rezic's men got their noses in front seven minutes from the end of normal time through Andrei Cordea.

With six points picked up from their five matches, the Knights of The North sit 11th in the standings, albeit only outside the top half on goal difference.

Currently on a run of seven straight away defeats, Saturday's visitors have it all to do as they look to avoid another fruitless outing on the road.

Team News

Al Hazem's Mohamed Badamosi has found the back of the net in back to back matches for club and country and will be looking to come up trumps once again.

Twenty-seven-year-old Yakeeb Al Bakr will be pushing for a place in the XI having had to settle for a place on the bench in each of the hosts' last two games.

Alfredo Semedo missed Al Tai's last outing through suspension, but the Guinea-Bissau international is now eligible to play a part in this weekend's contest.

This should see Abdulaziz Al Harabi drop out of the lineup after the midfielder was handed a rare starting appearance against Abha last time out.

Al Hazem possible starting lineup:
Dahmen; Al Otaibi, Bruno Viana, Al Dakheel, Al Aazmi; Vina, Al Sayyali, Traore, Al Shammari; Toze, Badamosi

Al Tai possible starting lineup:
Braga; Qasim, Roco, Bauer, Alnakhli; Semedo, Al Qunaian, Abdullah; Misidjan, Cordea, Al Hazzaa

We say: Al Hazem 1-1 Al Tai

Both teams have struggled for goals of late, but their defensive deficiencies mean that an entertaining affair should be on the cards here. That said, we expect the teams to cancel each other out over the course of the 90 minutes and settle for a share of the spoils in the end.


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