Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr at the top of the last chance to catch the top of the Saudi League
The conflict between the two rivals, title holders Al Hilal and Al Nasr, will be renewed in the Saudi Professional League summit match on Thursday, but this match will most likely represent the last chance to catch the lead.
Al-Nassr is in second place with 44 points from 22 matches, seven points behind Al-Hilal, the fourth in the ranking, who played only 19 matches.
Al-Ittihad, which has won its first title since the 2008-2009 season, leads the competition with 51 points from 21 games.
Al-Ittihad will have the opportunity to impose pressure on its rivals when it begins the round of competitions on Thursday against Damak, who is ranked fifth.
But after the Jeddah giants play, all eyes will turn to the top of Riyadh.
Al Hilal played against Al Nasr in the King's Cup quarter-finals about two weeks ago, and the first won 2-1 thanks to a controversial penalty kick.
And the referees administration of the Saudi Federation announced, in a message to analyze the performance via Twitter, that the referee miscalculated the penalty kick from which Al Hilal scored the victory goal ten minutes before the end.
Al Hilal returned to the right path after the dismissal of coach Leonardo Jardim last month and the appointment of its former coach, veteran Ramon Diaz.
Diaz began his career this time with a 5-0 victory over Al Shabab in the league, then eliminated Al-Nasr from the King's Cup, before winning 2-0 over Al-Hazm in the league last Saturday.
Al-Nassr started a series of seven consecutive victories in the league with a 2-0 victory over Al-Hilal last December, and stopped losing 3-0 against Al-Ittihad last month.
But Al-Nassr recovered quickly, winning the last two rounds over Al-Batin and Abha, and will hold on to the hopes of competing for the title.
The two giants have a tremendous attacking force, with Al Hilal striker Odion Ighalo and Al-Nassr player Anderson Taliska, and the two players are equal with Brazilian Romarinho from Al Ittihad as the top scorer with 14 goals each.
The victory was also boosted by the return of Vincent Abubakar, the African Cup of Nations top scorer last month with Cameroon, to his level as he scored two goals in a 2-1 victory over Abha last Saturday.
Al-Nasr will miss the right-back Sultan Al-Ghanam due to a foot injury, and Al-Hilal suffers from a similar issue with the injury of the right-back Muhammad Al-Buraik as well.
This round will conclude when Al Shabab, who is in third place with 43 points, plays Al Batin, who is in 13th place, next Saturday.
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