The 17th round of the Saudi Professional Roshen League kicks off on Thursday with a match between the runners-up when Abha, the 17th, faces al-hazm, who won last round but remains last and has 11 points behind his host.
At the same time, he plays the al-akhdood, in 16th place and has 13 points, with al-tai 12th-placed folding with 17 points in the last game against Al-Hilal after two consecutive victories.
Al-Ahli, the third with 31 points, hopes to reduce the six-point gap with victory when he serves as guest of Al-Fayha’s 10th ranking, which has won one in his last five games.
Al-Fayha appeared to regain his balance after 4-1 beat hosts Khatakur of Uzbekistan to advance to the AFC Champions League last 16, but he exceeded his lead and conceded two goals in each half to lose the 4-1 at the al-taawoum Stadium last round.
Al-Fayha misses Morocco’s Abdelhamid Sabiri, Nigerian Anthony Nwakaimi and Mukhir al-Rashidi, but includes a host of distinctive names, such as his Serb guard Vladimir Stojkovic, Ivory Ghislan Konan, Zambian Vashon Sakala and Nigerian Henri Onikoro.
Al-Ahli, who stumbled to a negative draw against the al-raed in the last round after his big win over Abha 6-0, aspires to return quickly and achieve a new victory through which he secures his current position and keeps him close to the top clubs.
German manager Matthias Yessel told Al-Ahli: The result of the draw against the al-raed in the last stage is frustrating.
Continue: My team’s offensive line suffers from poor positioning, which affects the team completely at the moment, was lacking in reconciliation and luck in front of the leading club to achieve victory.
Seal: The team has not found any goals in the past three stages, which is positive for us, we will complete this, and we will address the problems of attacking during the next games.
