Al-Taawoun vs Al-Ettifaq

Al Taawoun and Al Ettifaq are set to square off at the King Abdullah Sports City in an exciting Saudi Pro League curtain-dropping fixture.

Determined to outperform last season’s 5th-place finish and, in turn, secure continental football against the odds, Al-Taawoun head into the season finale perfectly positioned to do just that. Buoyed by a three-game unbeaten league run (W1, D2), the Wolves need a win here to leave dethroned champions Al-Ittihad in the dust, regardless of their result at Al-Nassr. And the opponent is the one they know all too well, having beaten them twice ‘to nil’ across their last three top-flight H2Hs (D1). With all three meetings featuring under 2.5 goals, a theme highlighting six of their seven most recent league outings, connoisseurs of action-packed football can’t expect a goal galore. Al-Taawoun’s chances for success may well hinge on keeping this game tight after netting under 1.5 goals in four of their last five home league matches.

In the meantime, Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard could be counting his last hours in charge of El-Ettifaq despite masterminding a three-match unbeaten league streak down the final stretch (W2, D1). The visitors’ resurgence came too little too late as they can’t climb up the ladder, even though they’ll probably better last season’s 7th-place finish by one. Playing on the road has been Al-Ettifaq’s Achilles heel this term, as evidenced by their indifferent away league record (W6, D5, L5). Their travel sickness has come to the fore lately, with a 5-0 demolition of Al-Ittihad serving to halt a frustrating run of three top-flight trips without winning (D2, L1). But they could hope to scoop up another three points after overcoming Al-Taawoun twice in their last four away H2Hs (D2).