Al-Ittihad vs Abha. Will the champion emerge from the crisis?
On Friday, November 10, at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, a match between Al-Ittihad and Abha teams will take place as part of the 13th round of the Saudi Arabian League.
There is a real crisis in the camp of the current champion Saudi Arabia. The team, which spent a lot of money in the summer off-season on transfers and salaries for star newcomers led by Karim Benzema, Ngolo Kante and Fabinho, cannot yet boast of even a place in the Top 5 of the standings. And Al-Ittihad is already 11 points behind the leader.
And it would be good if problems haunted Benzema and the company only in the championship, where the competitors are also very strong. But no - in the Asian Champions League, Ittihad also suffered this week from the modest Iraqi team Al-Quwa, which defeated a formidable opponent at home with a score of 2:0 and called into question its “easy walk” in the group stage.
A small justification for the champion's dismal results can be personnel problems - in particular, the injury of defender Ahmed Hegazi. But the fact of the matter is that the team’s main difficulties are not in defense, but in attack. And in this regard, more than one fan of the team has asked the question: was it really worth excluding the Portuguese Jota, bought from Celtic for almost 30 million euros, from the championship application? He definitely wasn’t out of place on the “roster” now with such dull football in front of someone else’s goal.
Abha
The team, which experienced a very difficult start to the season and the resignation of the coach, began to gradually come to its senses. It is quite easy to associate such a wonderful transformation with the arrival of a new “helmsman” in the team. Moreover, we are not talking about a world-famous specialist, but about a modest “coach” from Tunisia named Youssef Al-Manai, who lost his first match in a new capacity, but then won three victories in a row with Abha. And it is with this current series that the middle of the table will come to visit the champion, who is going through a crisis.
The new coach managed to “reach out” to the team, and especially to the former Krasnodar and Lokomotiv player Grzegorz Krychowiak, who had already scored twice in the championship under the Tunisian coach. It is also worth noting the good form of Cameroonian Karl Toko Ekambi.
But in defense, Abha had serious difficulties and still has them. The last time the team played a clean sheet in the championship was back in August, and something tells us that the disappointing streak will not be interrupted next Friday.
Therefore, we do not exclude another misfire by Benzema and company, although this time, taking into account the current champion’s opponent’s penchant for attacking adventures, we will still assume a victory for the home team, but always in a productive game with goals in both directions. And our forecast for the match Al-Itihad - Abha - total over 3 goals in exactly 1.76.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Al-Ittihad vs Abha
Al-IttihadThere is a real crisis in the camp of the current champion Saudi Arabia. The team, which spent a lot of money in the summer off-season on transfers and salaries for star newcomers led by Karim Benzema, Ngolo Kante and Fabinho, cannot yet boast of even a place in the Top 5 of the standings. And Al-Ittihad is already 11 points behind the leader.
And it would be good if problems haunted Benzema and the company only in the championship, where the competitors are also very strong. But no - in the Asian Champions League, Ittihad also suffered this week from the modest Iraqi team Al-Quwa, which defeated a formidable opponent at home with a score of 2:0 and called into question its “easy walk” in the group stage.
A small justification for the champion's dismal results can be personnel problems - in particular, the injury of defender Ahmed Hegazi. But the fact of the matter is that the team’s main difficulties are not in defense, but in attack. And in this regard, more than one fan of the team has asked the question: was it really worth excluding the Portuguese Jota, bought from Celtic for almost 30 million euros, from the championship application? He definitely wasn’t out of place on the “roster” now with such dull football in front of someone else’s goal.
Abha
The team, which experienced a very difficult start to the season and the resignation of the coach, began to gradually come to its senses. It is quite easy to associate such a wonderful transformation with the arrival of a new “helmsman” in the team. Moreover, we are not talking about a world-famous specialist, but about a modest “coach” from Tunisia named Youssef Al-Manai, who lost his first match in a new capacity, but then won three victories in a row with Abha. And it is with this current series that the middle of the table will come to visit the champion, who is going through a crisis.
The new coach managed to “reach out” to the team, and especially to the former Krasnodar and Lokomotiv player Grzegorz Krychowiak, who had already scored twice in the championship under the Tunisian coach. It is also worth noting the good form of Cameroonian Karl Toko Ekambi.
But in defense, Abha had serious difficulties and still has them. The last time the team played a clean sheet in the championship was back in August, and something tells us that the disappointing streak will not be interrupted next Friday.
Al-Ittihad vs Abha facts
- Al Ittihad lost the last two matches of the season without scoring a single goal.
- Al-Ittihad have already lost more matches in this Saudi Arabian championship (3) than in the entire last championship campaign (2)
- Abha conceded goals in 10 consecutive championship matches
Odds from download 1xbet
In the bookmaker's office 1xbet, the favorite of the Saudi Arabian championship match is the Al-Ittihad team, on whose victory you can bet with odds of 1.30. The bookmaker offers to bet on a draw for 5.28, and on the victory of Abhi’s footballers – at 8.55. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!Game Totals Prediction
Of course, Al-Ittihad is noticeably superior to its upcoming rival in terms of the class of key performers. But in the last two matches the situation was similar, and everything ended in tears for the favorite.Therefore, we do not exclude another misfire by Benzema and company, although this time, taking into account the current champion’s opponent’s penchant for attacking adventures, we will still assume a victory for the home team, but always in a productive game with goals in both directions. And our forecast for the match Al-Itihad - Abha - total over 3 goals in exactly 1.76.
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