The Roshn Saudi League continues its action on Saturday, and features Cristiano Ronaldo’s resurgent Al Nassr aiming to continue their title challenge, while Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq hosts the table’s bottom side in Dammam.

Abha v Al Okhdood

Key stat: 

Al Okhdood have the poorest attack in the league, having scored just six goals so far, while Abha’s 10 goals put them in second-bottom place, joint with Al Tai, Al Khaleej and Al Raed.

Players to watch:

Saad Bguir – Abha: The veteran Tunisian midfielder has been the focal point of Abha’s attack, scoring the opener in their 2-1 win against Al Shabab last week. It was their first point collected since the 2-2 draw against Al Nassr on October 6, in which Bguir also scored Abha’s first goal.

Saviour Godwin – Al Okhdood: The team from Najran have scored only three goals in their past six outings, and two of those goals came through the Nigerian forward.

Did you know?

The 246km trek to Abha is the shortest away trip for Al Okhdood this season, with both teams located in the southwest of Saudi Arabia. The journey to Al Tai in Hail is the longest for the Najran outfit, at over 1570km.

Al Nassr v Al Khaleej

Key Stat:

Al Khaleej have not scored a goal from open play since matchweek 5. They failed to score in three of their past four matches, and their past four goals have come from two penalties, one free-kick and one corner kick.

Players to watch:

Anderson Talisca – Al Nassr: Out of his side’s past 16 goals in RSL, 10 have been scored or assisted by Talisca. The Brazilian finished last season on 20 goals, and is already on eight goals this campaign, with less than a third of the season gone.

Fabio Martins – Al Khaleej: Only Cristiano Ronaldo (25) has more RSL goals then Fabio Martins (20) among Portuguese players in the competition’s history. The Al Khaleej captain has been involved in five goals this season (four goals and one assist) - half of his club’s goals in 2023-24.

Did you know?

Current Al Khaleej head coach Pedro Emanuel briefly led Al Nassr as interim boss in 2021-22, coaching them in three RSL matches, losing twice and drawing once. 

Al Ettifaq v Al Raed

Key stat:

Al Ettifaq have never failed to win a RSL game in which Georginio Wijnaldum has scored. The Dutchman struck twice in the 4-3 win over Al Tai on matchweek 7, and repeated the feat in last week’s 3-2 comeback victory against Al Wehda.

Players to watch:

Robin Quaison – Al Ettifaq: The Swedish forward scored in three of his past four appearances against Al Raed. He is already on three RSL goals this season, but has failed to find the back of the net in his past five matches.

Mohammed Fouzair – Al Raed: The team from Buraidah is bottom of the table, having not registered a win since matchweek 3 when they beat Al Riyadh 3-0. Back then it was Fouzair who scored two of the three goals, and the Moroccan also bagged two of Al Raed’s last two goals against Al Ettifaq.

Did you know?

These two teams finished last season just three points apart, with Al Ettifaq ending the 2022-23 campaign in seventh place with 37 points, and Al Raed in tenth with 34.