Al-Ittihad vs Al-Shabab: Can Benzema's team maintain the championship pace?

On Wednesday, January 22, the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah will host a match between Al-Ittihad and Al-Shabab as part of the 16th round of the Saudi Arabian League.

• Expert Predictions Analysis
• Al-Ittihad vs Al-Shabab facts
• Odds
• Game Totals Prediction

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Al-Ittihad vs Al-Shabab

Al-Ittihad

Laurent Blanc's team, having lost sole leadership in the previous round after a draw with Al-Feiha (1:1) away, managed to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of their home fans in the next round, having crushed Al-Raed (4:1) at home. And not allowing the current champion Al-Hilal, who have gained crazy momentum in recent weeks, to seize first place. The teams are still separated only by additional indicators, according to which Karim Benzema and company are second in the table.

By the way, the French forward had a very strong match against Al-Raed, scoring the first goal in the match, and then making two assists to his teammates. In total, Benzema has already scored 13 goals in all tournaments and made 5 assists this season.

Al-Shabab

The team led by legendary Turkish coach Fatih Terim has had quite a successful season so far. In the championship, Al-Shabab may not be as good as the most optimistic fans would like – sixth place in the table, 5 points behind the top three. However, Terim’s team has already reached the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabian Cup. Where, by the way, they will fight for the right to play in the decisive match with Al-Ittihad.

In the meantime, the rivals will hold a kind of “rehearsal” for the cup semi-final, and Al-Shabab will approach it with a long-awaited victory in the championship – over Al-Riyadh (2:1), with which Terim’s charges broke a 4-match streak without a win (there were 2 draws and 2 losses).

The coaching staff still cannot count on the injured Belgian Yannick Carrasco. However, Portuguese Daniel Podence and Moroccan Abderrazak Hamed-Alla have come into their own. This pair has scored two goals each in the last three matches of the season.

Al-Ittihad vs Al-Shabab facts

• Al-Ittihad are unbeaten in 14 matches in a row this season (12 wins and 2 draws in regular time)
• Al-Shabab play 'both teams to score' in 6 games in a row this season
• Al-Ittihad have scored at least 2 goals in 8 of their last 9 home matches in the Saudi Arabian Premier League

Odds from download 1xbet

In the bookmaker's office 1xbet, the favorite of the match of the Saudi Arabian championship is considered to be the Al-Ittihad team, on whose victory you can bet with a coefficient of 1.60. A bet on a free bet from 1xbet on a draw in this match will be accepted with a coefficient of 4.22, and on the victory of Al-Shabab you can bet for 4.71. Download 1xbet to your phone and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

Al-Ittihad looks stronger than Al-Shabab, but the favorite has often conceded in recent weeks, even from opponents that its next opponent is superior in class. So we can expect an exchange of goals in the upcoming confrontation. And in order to slightly increase the odds for the bet on the Al-Ittihad - Al-Shabab match, we suggest betting on a total of more than 3 goals exactly, for which bookmakers give odds of 1.91.