After its four-week pause, the 2024-25 Roshn Saudi League returns on Thursday to begin three days of what promises to be thrilling action.
Heading into Matchweek 14, we discuss some of the main talking points that will keep fans occupied before attention turns – rightfully – to what happens on the pitch.
Will Al Hilal shake off King’s Cup exit?
On Tuesday, we were treated to a rather enthralling glimpse of the season’s unfolding title race, when RSL and King’s Cup champions Al Hilal hosted current league frontrunners Al Ittihad in Riyadh.
The match at Kingdom Arena, pitting against one another first and second in the top flight, was an instant classic, with Al Ittihad eventually progressing on penalties to the semi-finals. A captivating contest had finished 2-2 after extra-time.
While Laurent Blanc’s high-flying side, embroidered again by two goals from captain Benzema, will take huge confidence from a standout success, perhaps the more intriguing subplot is how will Al Hilal rebound?
Given Al Ittihad’s recent rude health – they have won 12 of 13 RSL matches this season, including nine on the bounce – Jorge Jesus’ record-breakers will realise there is very little margin for error. So, an away game at 13th-placed Al Orobah in Saturday’s early kick-off holds additional importance.
The good news for Al Hilal is that midfield maestro Ruben Neves is available once more after sitting out of RSL action since October. That’s a huge boost for the title-holders, who at present are two points off the summit.
Can Al Ettifaq build on recent win?
Make no mistake, the victory last time out at Al Khaleej in Matchweek 13 lifted a huge cloud from Al Ettifaq. The 2-1 triumph, sealed late on by Abdullah Radif’s spectacular effort, arrested a run of nine RSL games without a win, and moved the Dammam club closer to the top half of the table.
Now 11th, the target for manager Steven Gerrard and everyone associated with Al Ettifaq will be to use the victory, and the winter break, to reignite their season.
Gerrard went through a similarly poor sequence of results last term and completely flipped his team’s fortunes for Al Ettifaq to finish a very commendable sixth. A home game against Al Kholood, then, to kick-start Friday’s round of matches provides the opportunity to gain momentum, considering the RSL debutants have one win in nine league outings.
However, the promoted side showed enough in their narrow defeat to Al Ittihad in the opening matchweek, and the 3-3 draw with Al Nassr in October, that they won’t shy away from a challenge.
Will Al Nassr spark their RSL ambitions back into life?
Following Matchweek 10, last year’s runners-up resided as the final remaining unbeaten team in the 2024-25 RSL. Another title challenge looked set. Then came a 2-1 home defeat to an albeit-surging Al Qadsiah and, two rounds later and most recently, the loss to Al Ittihad in Jeddah – by the same scoreline.
As such, Al Nassr slipped to fourth and entered the winter break 11 points off the summit. Looking over their shoulder, Al Ahli and Al Shabab sit only two points back. So, while Stefano Pioli’s men will not be giving up on the championship crown, they will recognise also the importance of not relinquishing a top-four slot.
It helps massively, of course, that Al Nassr are captained by the irrepressible Cristiano Ronaldo, who is again pushing for the golden boot he won in sensational fashion last season.
The Portuguese superstar, who last week celebrated two years in the Kingdom, is joint-second in the 2024-25 scoring charts, and displays little sign of slowing down.
And, in taking on 14th-placed Al Okhdood at Al Awwal Park in Thursday’s concluding clash, Ronaldo will be keen to get his quest for individual and collective honours back on an upward trajectory – against a team he clearly enjoys facing.
What will Fatih Terim’s Al Shabab look like?
Arguably the headline recruit of the winter break came in the shape of Fatih Terim, who replaced Vitor Pereira in the Al Shabab dugout. A managerial legend in his native Turkiye, the 71-year-old has been a serial trophy winner, although this represents his first taste of Gulf football.
And, as far as debuts go, it doesn’t come too much more testing than a trip in-form Al Ahli. Courtesy of four straight wins, the Jeddah giants sit fifth in the table, one place ahead of Al Shabab – only via goal difference.
Will Terim’s Al Shabab differ significantly to Pereira’s? And how will he harness the sustaining goal threat of Abderrazak Hamdallah, who is chasing down the RSL all-time record?
Yet the beauty of it all? You simply have to tune into Friday's late kick-off to begin to get answers.
How will the other new managers fare?
Terim won’t be the only fresh face on the touchline this week, with three other managers installed since the last ball was kicked in Matchweek 13 back on December 7.
Al Fateh, rooted to the bottom of the RSL, moved for Jose Gomes to succeed Jens Gustafsson as they seek to extricate themselves from the relegation battle – and improve upon their solitary win thus far.
Gomes, a coach with considerable RSL experience, gets his new role – and Matchweek 14 – under way with a home clash with Al Wehda on Thursday, the team two spots and three points above them. Victory would take the hosts above their opponents.
Also attempting to wrestle free from the drop zone, Al Fayha brought in another Portuguese manager who knows the RSL well, in Pedro Emanuel. The former Al Taawoun, Al Nassr and Al Khaleej head coach replaced Christos Kontis last month.
Having guided Al Khaleej to 11th last season, the hope is that he can reinvigorate an Al Fayha side who sit second from bottom, with one win this term. First up? Well, it’s current league leaders Al Ittihad on Saturday night, with a red-hot Karim Benzema. Welcome back, Pedro.
And completing the new set of managers, the slightly more unheralded Nuno Almeida is the latest voice at Damac, with the Portuguese taking over from Cosmin Contra. He finds a club 10th in the table, albeit with only two defeats in their past eight RSL outings.
Almeida, who to this point has spent his career largely as an assistant coach, gets his first taste of Saudi Arabian football with a tricky away trip to Al Raed on Friday. Odair Hellmann’s men are a solitary point, and two places, below them.
MW14's Preview Standout Stats: Ronaldo, Hamdallah, Al Ettifaq and more!
