Al-Ittifaq vs Al-Hilal. Is Gerrard's team capable of the feat?
On Monday, February 26, at the Al-Ittifaq Stadium in Dammam, a match will take place between the teams Al-Ittifaq and Al-Hilal as part of the 21st round of the Saudi Arabian Championship.
The team from Dammam has one of the strongest squads in the league, but the team's results under the leadership of Steven Gerrard did not resonate at all with the expectations of the fans and the club's management. But fortunately for the English specialist, in Al-Ittifaq they know how to endure failures and do not cut from the shoulder, otherwise the Liverpool legend would already be looking for a new job, or enjoying life for the penalty paid.
Before the pause for the Asian Cup, the results of Al-Ittifaq were extremely disastrous - 8 matches in a row without victories, in 3 of which the team suffered defeats. But the club decided that it was too early to resign the coach; on the contrary, in the winter transfer window they acquired two players for Gerrard to strengthen, at the same time weakening their competitors in the championship. Striker Karl Toko-Ekambi came from Abha, and midfielder Alvaro Medran from Al-Tawoun.
And the first match after the “vacation” instilled hope in the hearts of Al-Ittifaq fans. The team played competently in defense and calmly managed their chances in attack, winning with a score of 2:0. True, it should be noted right away that the opponents were Al-Khalij, who occupied an even lower place than Gerrard’s team itself. But trouble has begun.
Al-Hilal
Nothing and no one can stop Al-Hilal on their way to the Saudi League title. Jorge Jesus' team has not lost points in the championship since September 21, when they drew with Damac (1:1). And at the same time, Mitrovic, Malcolm and the company continue their winning path in other tournaments - the national cup and the Asian Champions League. It looks like Al-Hilal is aiming for a treble.
The opponents are absolutely unable to find an antidote to the powerful play of Jesus’ men, and this despite the fact that the team is playing without Neymar, the main summer acquisition of last year, on whom they were going to rely this season. The Brazilian is still healing his injury, and his teammates are doing an excellent job. Perhaps in recent weeks there have been questions only about the defense - Al-Hilal began to regularly concede goals into their own net. But what’s the problem if the team more than compensates for all the failures at home in attack!?
Before this meeting, there are questions about the health of Milinkovic-Savic. Sergei was injured in the last championship game with Al-Raed (3:1), which is why he did not play in the return match of the Champions League against Sepahan (3:1). However, there is still a chance that the Serb will have time to recover by Monday.
Let's assume that this time the favorite, slightly tired after the continental tournament in the middle of the past week, plays without maximum concentration on defense, and overall we will see a productive, entertaining match. Our prediction for the game Al-Ittifaq - Al-Hilal is a total of more than 3 goals with an odds of 1.85.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Al-Ittifaq vs Al-Hilal
Al-IttifaqThe team from Dammam has one of the strongest squads in the league, but the team's results under the leadership of Steven Gerrard did not resonate at all with the expectations of the fans and the club's management. But fortunately for the English specialist, in Al-Ittifaq they know how to endure failures and do not cut from the shoulder, otherwise the Liverpool legend would already be looking for a new job, or enjoying life for the penalty paid.
Before the pause for the Asian Cup, the results of Al-Ittifaq were extremely disastrous - 8 matches in a row without victories, in 3 of which the team suffered defeats. But the club decided that it was too early to resign the coach; on the contrary, in the winter transfer window they acquired two players for Gerrard to strengthen, at the same time weakening their competitors in the championship. Striker Karl Toko-Ekambi came from Abha, and midfielder Alvaro Medran from Al-Tawoun.
And the first match after the “vacation” instilled hope in the hearts of Al-Ittifaq fans. The team played competently in defense and calmly managed their chances in attack, winning with a score of 2:0. True, it should be noted right away that the opponents were Al-Khalij, who occupied an even lower place than Gerrard’s team itself. But trouble has begun.
Al-Hilal
Nothing and no one can stop Al-Hilal on their way to the Saudi League title. Jorge Jesus' team has not lost points in the championship since September 21, when they drew with Damac (1:1). And at the same time, Mitrovic, Malcolm and the company continue their winning path in other tournaments - the national cup and the Asian Champions League. It looks like Al-Hilal is aiming for a treble.
The opponents are absolutely unable to find an antidote to the powerful play of Jesus’ men, and this despite the fact that the team is playing without Neymar, the main summer acquisition of last year, on whom they were going to rely this season. The Brazilian is still healing his injury, and his teammates are doing an excellent job. Perhaps in recent weeks there have been questions only about the defense - Al-Hilal began to regularly concede goals into their own net. But what’s the problem if the team more than compensates for all the failures at home in attack!?
Before this meeting, there are questions about the health of Milinkovic-Savic. Sergei was injured in the last championship game with Al-Raed (3:1), which is why he did not play in the return match of the Champions League against Sepahan (3:1). However, there is still a chance that the Serb will have time to recover by Monday.
Al-Ittifaq vs Al-Hilal facts
- Al-Hilal won 23 consecutive last matches of the season
- Al-Hilal scored at least 2 goals in the last 10 league matches
- Al-Ittifaq did not win or score more than one goal in their last 5 home league matchesl
Odds from download 1xbet
In the bookmaker's office 1xbet, the guests from the Al-Hilal team are considered the favorites of the Saudi Arabian championship match, and you can bet on their victory with odds of 1.43. The odds for Al Ittifaq to win and draw are 6.00 and 4.80 respectively. Download 1xbet to your phone and place a bet on the favorite!Game Totals Prediction
It is impossible to stop Al-Hilal's attack - this has been proven over many months of this season. But in recent weeks, the leader has at least allowed his rivals to regularly score their own goals. And this is a good sign for Al-Ittifaq, who very appropriately remembered how to score goals after the break in the championship.Let's assume that this time the favorite, slightly tired after the continental tournament in the middle of the past week, plays without maximum concentration on defense, and overall we will see a productive, entertaining match. Our prediction for the game Al-Ittifaq - Al-Hilal is a total of more than 3 goals with an odds of 1.85.
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