Round seven of the 2023 Saudi Pro League season sees Al-Taawoun and Al Raed face off at the King Abdullah International Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Off the back of respective defeats last time out, both teams will be looking to get back to winning ways as soon as possible by securing all three points here.

Match preview

Al-Taawoun were on the receiving end of a 3-2 defeat against Al Ahli SC when the teams went head-to-head at the Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium on Sunday.

Abdulbasit Hindi's opener and a Waleed Al Ahmad own goal saw Pericles Chamusca's men trail by two before goals in either half from Joao Pedro and Musa Barrow restored parity, only for Allan Saint-Maximin to decide the game three minutes from time.

Consequently, the Wolves have dropped down to fourth place in the Saudi Pro League table, three points adrift of current leaders Al Hilal.

Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who boast just one victory from the most recent nine editions of this fixture dating back to 2019.

Having won six of their last seven matches on home turf, Thursday's hosts have been firing on all cylinders in front of their fans and will back themselves to get the job done.

Al Raed saw their run of consecutive clean sheets come to an end as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Al Nassr on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from Sadio Mane, Anderson Talisca and Cristiano Ronaldo left Igor Jovicevic's men with a mountain to climb after which Mohammed Fouzair pulled one back.

With four points amassed from six league games so far, the Buraidah-based side sit 15th in the standings, outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.

Winless in eight matches on the road leading up to Thursday's contest, the visitors have it all to do as they look to get themselves going away from home.

Team News

Musa Barrow found the back of the net on his Al-Taawoun debut against Al Ahli SC, and the forward is expected to be rewarded with a place in the XI.

Alvaro Medran received his marching orders in the closing stages of the aforementioned game, making him ineligible to play any part for the hosts here.

Bander Whaeshi will not feature for Al Raed in this one having been shown a straight red card midway through the defeat to Al Nassr last time out.

This should see Abdullah Al Fahad return to the starting lineup for the first time in three matches after back to back substitute appearances.

Thirty-one-year-old Mohammed Fouzair has netted each of the visitors' last three goals and the Moroccan is definitely one to keep a close watch on.

Al-Taawoun possible starting lineup:
Mailson; Faqeehi, Al Ahmad, Andrei, Al Ghamdi; Flavio, El Mahdioui, Al Shammari; Pedro, Mateus, Barrow

Al Raed possible starting lineup:
Moreira; Al Dossary, Gonzalez, Al Fahad, Al Yousef; Fouzair, Al Beshe, Normann, Sunbul; Sayoud, Tavares

We say: Al-Taawoun 3-1 Al Raed

Al-Taawoun were a tad unlucky to have come away from their last match empty-handed and will be confident of bouncing back on home turf. We fully expect the hosts to secure maximum points at the end of the 90 minutes here.


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