The reigning Saudi Champions take on the best team in the country. The upcoming AFC Champions League QF encounter between Al Hilal and Al Ittihad on paper is an exhilarating affair.  Both teams have plenty of big hitters, but the chemistry has not quite clicked for Marcelo Gallardo’s side. In the league, they find themselves behind Al Hilal by a staggering 25 points!

However, the Champions League is a whole different ball game. One bad match is all it takes to pack your bags, and for Al Ittihad, this is their best chance to possibly win a trophy this season. With the match just a few hours away, let’s take a sneak peek at what the anticipated fixture has in store for us.

Injuries and Suspensions

The obvious absentee for Al Hilal is Neymar, who is out for the season due to an ACL tear. Second-choice goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais is also unavailable and is recovering from a back injury that has grappled him since December. Defenders Mohammed Al Burayk, Hassan Tambakti, and Muteb Al-Mufarrij are also ruled out. Hence, it seems Marcelo Gallardo’s side is slightly thin on defenders. A possible target to exploit for Al Ittihad’s attackers?

Speaking of Al Ittihad, they too have injury issues of their own. The Saudi trio of Ahmed Bamsaud, Ahmed Sharahili, and Abdullah Al-Jadani are unavailable due to crucial ligament tears while Luiz Felipe is yet to recover from his muscle tear.

Al Hilal Vs Al Ittihad- Expected Lineups

Al Hilal expected starting XI (4-2-3-1)

Bono; Abdulhamid, Koulibaly, Al-Bulaihi, N. Al-Dawsari; Neves, Kanno; Al-Faraj, Malcolm, S. Al-Dawsari; Mitrovic

Al Ittihad expected starting XI (4-2-2-2)

Al-Mayouf; Al-Sqoor, Hawsawi, Hegazy, Kadesh; Kante, Fabinho; F. Al-Ghamdi, Al-Sahafi; Hamdallah, Benzema

Head to Head stats

This is set to be the 82nd encounter between the two Saudi powerhouses. Al Hilal have gotten the better of their rivals on 38 occasions while Al Ittihad emerged victorious 21 times. However, for Marcelo Gallardo & Co., the worrying stat is this, Al Ittihad hasn’t had a single victory in this fixture in the last 8 matches! The most recent encounter was on March 1st when Jorge Jesus’ side triumphed 3-1.

We predict a similar outcome today with Al Hilal coming out on top 2-1.

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How to watch Al Hilal vs Al Ittihad?

The match will take place at the 30,000 Kingdom Arena, which is the home ground of Al Hilal. The game will kick off at 1:00 pm ET and 10:00 am PST. CBS Sports is the only way to watch the AFC Champions League matches in the USA. Select matches are broadcasted via their channels. Fans also have the option of using their streaming service, Paramount +, which streams every single match in the competition.

Will Al Hilal emerge victorious tonight? Have your predictions in the comments below.

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