Saudi Arabian professional league.
Al Ahli vs. Hajer. 16. March.
2012.
Prince Abdullah Faisal Stadium, Jeddah.
Al Ahli are favourites to take all three points when they meet Hajer on
16. March 2012 at Prince Abdullah Faisal stadium. The Jeddah club currently sit
in second place in the Saudi professional league, one point behind the leaders
El shabab.
Al Ahli go into this game on the back of an emphatic 4-0 away win
against Ittifaq.
The Al Ahli strikers, Victor Semoes and Emad -Al Hosni are high on
confidence, after both strikers claimed a brace each against Ittifaq. The match
against the side form Dammam, saw Victor Semoes finally score his 17th
goal of the season., after a three month goal drought. The 17th goal
was quickly followed three minutes later by Semoes’ 18th goal.
These long awaited goals from Semoes have catapulted the Brazilian
striker above El shahbab’s Nasser as the highest scorer in the Saudi
professional league.
Semoes’ striking partner Emad is also high on confidence after his
sublime brace against Ittifaq. The second goal was a spectacular overhead kick
and showed cased Emad as the master of this difficult discipline. Unfortunately
Emad is suspended for the Ittifaq encounter, after picking up a third yellow
card in the away win against Ittifaq Despite this set back, Emad currently sits
in third place amongst the top scorers in the
Saudi Professional League.
Confidence is high throughout Al Ahli team and it is difficult to see
how Hajer can penetrate the Al Ahli midfield, let alone find a route through
the solid defense, where the commanding
figure of Yasser awaits to pounce on any speculative strike.
Even if were not for the current good form of Al Ahli, Hajer’s away form
paints a picture of a team who do not travel well, with just one point from
their last three away games. They also leak goals regularly and currently hold
the dubious honour of having the third
worst defence in the league with a -21 goal difference.
Also, Hajer have lost their previous two encounters against the team
from Jeddah, failing to find the back of the net on both occasions, after
losing 0-3 and 0-2 respectively.