Ahli striker Omar Al-Somah will be hoping to fire his team back to the top of the Saudi Pro League against city foes Ittihad on Saturday.
With seven goals in the first six games of the season, the Syrian marksman will be aiming to remain the league’s deadliest forward by continuing his impressive run having scored in each of the team’s last three games.
Ahli, who stand second in the league behind Nasr having played a game less, will face bitter rivals Ittihad in a Jeddah derby that is expected to pack out the city’s Al-Jawhara stadium.
Ittihad will mostly field an unchanged team from their draw with Ohod last week with the exception of the absence of Saudi Adnan Fallatah on the left side of defense.
Another Saudi international and Ahli’s club captain Taisir Al-Jassem continues to be sidelined through an injury he sustained 17 minutes into the start of the new season.
Ukrainian manager Serhiy Rebrov, who took charge of Ahli in June, will get a first taste of what the intense rivalry feels like between the Red Sea city’s two largest clubs in the ‘Glittering Jewel’ stadium.
His counterpart, Chilean José Luis Sierra, has been in the job for 15 months and has foundered and succeeded in previous matchups, notably his team’s exciting 3-2 semi-final victory over the ‘Royal’ club on their way to claim the Crown Prince Cup last year.
The two foes have met 18 times since the inception of the Saudi Pro League in 2008. Ahli have been victorious on 7 occasions to Ittihad’s 6 wins, with the remaining 5 encounters ending all square.