Al Ittihad vs Al Orouba: Chance to strengthen lead for Benzema's team

On Thursday, April 10, the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah will host a match between Al-Ittihad and Al-Oruba as part of the 27th round of the Saudi Arabian League.

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

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Al Ittihad vs Al Orouba

Al Ittihad

Laurent Blanc's team failed to win in the last round of the Saudi League, but nevertheless strengthened their position at the top of the tournament table. This happens quite often with Al-Ittihad this season, because the competitors are not known for their stability. In this case, the main pursuers of the "yellow-blacks" played each other - Al-Hilal lost to Al-Nasr (1:3) and allowed Karim Benzema and company to break away from themselves by 5 points, after Al-Ittihad played a draw with Al-Ahli (2:2) on the away field.

It is noteworthy that the hero of Al-Ittihad was Benzema himself, who scored the saving goal in the 90+4th minute. For the French veteran, this goal was also important because Karim had not scored in 5 matches in a row before that.

Towards the end of the season, Al-Ittihad is starting to accumulate personnel problems, which, given the team’s short bench, could become a major problem. This week, starting goalkeeper Rajkovic, as well as defender Mitai and winger Bergwijn, are at risk of missing a league match. It looks like coach Laurent Blanc, like in the last round, will have to field all his legionnaires in the starting lineup and strengthen the game with only homegrown talents.

Al Orouba

The team of Egyptian specialist Adnan Hamad had a strong end to the winter, winning two victories in a row, including a sensational victory over Al-Nasr (2:1) on the last day of February. However, March and the beginning of April clearly did not go well for Al-Orouba. Three defeats in the championship in a row with a total score of 1:9. And the fans again have to start worrying about preserving their residence in the elite division.

Al-Oruba is currently in 14th place, but the distance to 16th place, which would already "send" them to the lower division, is only three points. And there are still 8 rounds to play, during which they can lose a lot. As well as gain.

Among the personnel losses, we note the injury of the main star in the Oruba squad - defender Kurt Zouma. He missed the last match, and whether he will play in the next one is still a mystery, since the Saudi media are not particularly eloquent on this matter. Experienced Ivorian midfielder Jean-Michel Seri also continues to receive treatment.

Al Ittihad vs Al Orouba facts

• Al-Ittihad continues to "stamp out" "both teams to score" matches. Blanc's team has already had 16 of them in a row in all tournaments!
• Al-Ittihad are unbeaten in 14 consecutive home matches in the Saudi League - 13 wins and 1 draw
• Al-Oruba have failed to score in 4 of their last 5 away league matches

Odds from download 1xbet

In the bookmaker's office 1xbet, the Al-Ittihad team is considered a big favorite of the Saudi Arabian championship match, on whose victory you can bet with a coefficient of 1.19. You can use the 1xbet promo code to bet on a draw in this match with a coefficient of 6.65, and on the victory of the underdog - Al-Oruba, you can bet for 11.00. Download 1xbet to your phone and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

There is an assumption that in this match Al-Ittihad can interrupt the protracted series of matches on "both teams to score", due to their own "dry" match in defense. However, in order to reduce the degree of risk, we will choose the option with a "minus handicap" for the home team and the clear favorite of this confrontation for a bet on this match. The odds of 1.56 are offered in the 1xbet line for Karim Benzema and company to win with a difference of at least two goals - that is, for Al-Ittihad to win with a handicap of (-1.5), which seems to be a decent option for an "express", or a bet on an amount higher than the usual "flat". For more risky players, a handicap of (-2.5) will do. It's time for the future champion to defeat their league opponent again after Ittihad has not won by more than one goal for more than a month.