Al Wahda are almost assured of survival in the Saudi Pro League heading into Wednesday's penultimate clash with second-placed Al-Hilal at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
The Knights of Mecca began 2025 with just two wins from 13, but have since claimed seven victories from 19, elevating them outside the bottom three ahead of this week's tussle against the division's expected runners-up.
Match preview
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When Al Wahda finished 2024 with two wins from 13, their survival hopes looked bleak as they sat in the bottom three.
Having secured a 2-1 victory over Al Fateh to start 2025, the mood was lifted temporarily, only for a run of seven defeats from eight to dampen the spirits of the Red Dragons' supporters, who were possibly resigned to losing their top-flight status after three years.
However, Daniel Carreno's team have raised their level since the start of March, winning six and drawing one of 10 games to rise to 15th in the Saudi Pro League.
Although they suffered a 3-1 loss to third-placed Al Quadisiya, Al Orubah's 2-1 defeat to Al Khaleej in the previous round means Al Wahda enter gameweek 33 still two points clear of 16th place.
With the 15th-placed club's match against Al-Hilal coming a day after Al Orubah's encounter with third-placed Al Quadisiya, the hosts could start their match against the division's top scorers in the bottom three if the third-bottom club win a day earlier.
Such an outcome will put even more pressure on Carreno's team to secure a positive result against an opponent that have had the upper hand in this matchup since losing 2-1 in December 2020.
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Since that defeat, Al-Hilal have won five of the last six top-flight matches, drawing the other, and head into Wednesday's clash with an aggregate lead of 18-7 in league meetings.
Despite their prospects of claiming a record-extending 20th title going up in smoke after Al Ittihad's title success, Mohammad Al-Shalhoub's men stayed motivated in their round 32 clash with Al Fateh, evidenced by twice coming back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to score twice through Aleksandar Mitrovic in the final minutes, turning the game around for a 4-3 win.
Blue Power have now scored eight times in two away games under their caretaker boss, who replaced the sacked Jorge Jesus on May 3, winning three consecutive games for the first time since January.
Having scored four goals or more under the temporary boss, claiming a 5-3 win at Al Raed, a 4-0 success over Al Orubah and a 4-3 triumph against Al Fateh, the Riyadh-based team now aim to avoid defeat for a seventh game in a row to beat Al Quadisiya to second spot and make their final-day encounter on May 26 with the side in third a mere formality.
With the travelling contingent aware of their team's five-match unbeaten away run in the top flight, during which they have clinched four wins, the fans will support their team to extend that run to six, thereby securing the runners-up spot.
Team News
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A change may be required in goal after Abdullah Al-Owaishir was forced off in the 3-1 loss to Al Quadisiya, with Ahmed Al Rashidi replacing the shot-stopper.
While Saad Al Qahtani's injury will be assessed, Nawaf Al-Azizi (knee) and Craig Goodwin (toe) are expected to be unavailable for the hosts.
Goodwin's absence is particularly significant, given the Knights of Mecca will be without the wide attacker's six goals and seven assists.
Marcos Leonardo could miss out again due to personal reasons, while Joao Cancelo (muscle), Hamad Al-Yami (thigh), Khalifah Al-Dawsari (muscle) and Yasser Al-Shahrani (hamstring) should be absent due to injury.
Kaio Cesar only lasted 17 minutes after replacing Mohamed Kanno last time out, and the winger could miss the second-placed team's penultimate match this term.
Despite Leonardo's absence, Mitrovic (18 goals) and Salem Al-Dawsari (15) have shared the goalscoring burden, with the Serbian forward's last match-winning brace against Al Fateh taking him to seven game-deciding goals — only Al-Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo (nine) and Al Shaabab's Abderrazak Hamdallah (eight) have more.
Al Wahda possible starting lineup:
Al Rashidi; Al Muwallad, Makki, Al-Hafith, Al-Salem; Makaazi, Bakshween, Bacuna, Al-Hejji; Noor, Ighalo
Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:
Bono; K. Al-Dawsari, Koulibaly, Albulayhi, Lodi; Kanno, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic; Malcom, S. Al-Dawsari; Mitrovic
We say: Al Wahda 2-3 Al-Hilal
Al Wahda have conceded three goals or more in eight of their 16 home fixtures before Wednesday's game with Al-Hilal.
Given the away side's efficiency in front of goal, the Boss should edge the game in a high-scoring affair at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
