Al-Raed vs Al-Ittihad. The penultimate step towards the title for Benzema's team?

On Thursday, May 15, the King Abdullah Stadium in Buraydah will host a match between Al-Raed and Al-Ittihad as part of the 32nd round of the Saudi Arabian League.

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

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

Al-Raed

The team from Buraidah has already officially said goodbye to the chances of staying in the top Saudi division. The gap from the saving 15th place is already double-digit, and it is mathematically impossible to make up for it in the three remaining rounds. This means that in the duel with Al-Ittihad, Al-Raed will fight only for prestige and prize money, if these are provided by the management, or by the rival clubs of the championship leader, who is one step away from securing the title.

Al-Raed was one of the worst participants in the Saudi league in terms of the quality of its roster (the estimated transfer value of the team's "roster" is only about 14 million euros, one of the three lowest), and in terms of play, the team was far ahead of its "competitors" in the "hopeless season" nomination. Only 4 points scored since the end of February.

Al-Ittihad

The championship title is almost in the hands of Laurent Blanc's charges. Formally, Al-Ittihad can secure gold medals already in this round if they play better than their only real competitor, Al-Hilal, who are 6 points behind the leader with 3 rounds to go. In other words, the combinations "Al-Ittihad wins + Al-Hilal loses points" or "Al-Ittihad draws and Al-Hilal loses" will lead to the championship celebrations in Jeddah. But two synchronized results of the title contenders - be it wins, draws or losses - will leave formal intrigue for the remaining two rounds. After all, in this case, according to additional indicators, the pursuer of Karim Benzema and company will still have a chance for a miracle.

The French forward and his teammates left their opponents with no reason to believe in miracles after the last round, in which Al-Ittihad calmly and like champions dealt with Al-Feiha on their home field. Benzema himself made a significant contribution to the 3:0 victory, scoring a double.

Al-Raed vs Al-Ittihad facts

• Al-Raed, despite the fact that the team is "confidently" last in the standings, is not the worst participant of the season in terms of key statistical indicators. Al-Raed has the 5th-worst goal difference, the 3rd-worst defense and 8-10th place in the number of goals scored in the season;
• Al-Ittihad have conceded goals in nine consecutive away matches in the Saudi League;
• The bet on “both teams to score” has played in 16 of Al-Ittihad’s last 19 league matches.

Odds from download 1xbet

In the bookmaker's office 1xbet, the favorite of the match of the championship of Saudi Arabia is considered to be the team Al-Ittihad. The odds for the victory of the guests are 1.32. You can bet with a bonus on a draw in this match with the odds of 5.40, and the probability of victory of the home team - Al-Raeda, is estimated at the odds of 7.40. Download 1xbet to your phone and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

The leader is obliged to defeat the worst team of the championship, and to come as close as possible to the long-awaited title. But the relaxedness of the opponent, who can quite afford to play for fun, and the tendency of Al-Ittihad to make mistakes in defense may well lead to a mutually productive match. In the line of 1xbet there is a combined bet option "Al-Ittihad win + both will score" for a decent coefficient of 2.46. We will choose it as the optimal one.