Seeking to end the 2024-25 Saudi Pro League campaign in the top half of the table, Al Riyadh host Al-Ahli on Monday at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium.
Earlier this week, Riyadh dropped to ninth with a 3-1 defeat at Al-Taawoun, while Al-Ahli secured, at worst, a top-five finish despite a 3-1 defeat versus Al-Ettifaq.
Match preview
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A challenging 2025 domestic campaign will end for Al Riyadh on Monday, with this team losing their last two league fixtures, conceding three goals both times.
This will be the last opportunity for Bandar Al-Kubaishan to win a match at home this season since taking over from Sabri Lamouchi in April, as his side have claimed just one point in his three matches in charge in Riyadh.
With a victory on Monday, this team would guarantee a place in the top half of the table for the first time since the league expanded to 18 teams a season ago.
Al Riyadh have conceded 51 goals in 31 league fixtures this season, the most among teams currently in the top half of the table.
Regardless of how they fare on Monday, Al Riyadh have already collected more points domestically in 2024-25 (38) than they had in their return campaign to the Saudi top flight in 2023-24 (35).
They have a chance to win consecutive home games against Al-Ahli for the first time on Monday, having triumphed 2-1 in this exact fixture last season.
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While 2025 was a rough one for Al Riyadh, it was the opposite for Al-Ahli, who have come to life domestically throughout the year.
Matthias Jaissle's men have lost just three Pro League fixtures in 2025 and dropped points on only five occasions in this competition.
Al-Raqi enter this contest on a four-match winning run in this competition, with a chance to equal their longest such streak domestically with another triumph on Monday.
Two of their three defeats in the Saudi top flight this year have occurred away from home, though they have won their last two matches as the visitors in this competition.
It is likely they will finish fifth in the table as they trail Al-Nassr by three points for fourth but have a big goal difference to make up.
Al-Ahli have won two of their last three matches versus Al Riyadh, but they have not won an away game against them since 2022 (2-0).
Team News
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Earlier this month Al Riyadh lost Enzo Roco to an unknown injury, and that may keep him on the sidelines for Monday's season finale.
Enes Sali netted the opener versus Al-Taawoun on Tuesday before Faiz Selemani put them up by two shortly after, which was ultimately not enough to earn them anything.
In their mid-week loss to Al-Ettifaq, Al-Ahli were missing Galeno due to a hip injury, and Abdullah Otayf was unavailable because of a cruciate ligament tear.
Ivan Toney converted a sixth-minute penalty to temporarily put them ahead in that match, his 22nd of the campaign, two fewer than Cristiano Ronaldo for top scorer in this competition.
Al Riyadh possible starting lineup:
Borjan; Tambakti, Al-Menhali, Barbet, Al-Khaibari; Al-Abed, Mensah, Zidan, Sali; Toze; Selemani
Al-Ahli possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Majrashi, Demiral, Ibanez, Balobaid; Al-Johani, Kessie; Mahrez, Al-Buraikan, Al-Nabit; Toney
We say: Al Riyadh 1-3 Al-Ahli
There are too many holes in the Al Riyadh backline for us to believe they can fix it all even in a meaningless game, especially against the kind of attacking talent they will be facing on Monday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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Joel Lefevre
