Saudi Professional League 2023/2024

[BlackBoss_]

Speaking of just one point not being difficult to overcome, Al Hilal's next game will be against a strong opponent, I'm talking about Al Ittihad, who despite having a very bad start to the season, are recovering and have the capacity to make Al Hilal drop points.

In their last 5 games, Al Ittihad only lost 1. It's true that they won't have Benzema, who now plays for Al Hilal and who has already scored 3 goals in just 2 games for Al Hilal. It will be problematic to have Benzema as an opponent. But I hope it's a game that Al Ittihad manages to win and that Al Nassr manages to win their game against Al Hazm, which isn't a strong team.

Their recovery is not enough to get in top four of Saudi Professional League and with 37 points, now Al Ittihad have 10 points less than Al Qadsiah and it won't be easy for Al Ittihad to equalize total points with Al Qadsiah. The biggest problem of Al Ittihad is their defense that is weaker than top four clubs in Saudi Professional League, and even their total scored goals are less than top four clubs, if they can improve their defense, they will be able to get more points and have a better rank.

They can take over a fifth position of Al Taawoun easily but to participate in top four, it is a very difficult target for Al Ittihad and I really don't think they are able to do this in remaining time of this season. It's big consequence from their bad start in this season so far, and losing Karim Benzema is a big disadvantage for their club in remaining matches too.

[snipie]

Speaking of just one point not being difficult to overcome, Al Hilal's next game will be against a strong opponent, I'm talking about Al Ittihad, who despite having a very bad start to the season, are recovering and have the capacity to make Al Hilal drop points....

Their recovery is not enough to get in top four of Saudi Professional League and with 37 points, now Al Ittihad have 10 points less than Al Qadsiah and it won't be easy for Al Ittihad to equalize total points with Al Qadsiah....

Al-Ittihad chance to enter top four is not that big. Yet I will not deny their improvement in the league so far.
Right now Al-Hilal seems ok nationally and internationally. They lost points initially then recovered. Even in Asian competitions, these teams are performing very well.
Al-Ittihad will be the cause of Al-Hilal points loss in my opinion during this round

[Dump3er]

Speaking of just one point not being difficult to overcome, Al Hilal's next game will be against a strong opponent, I'm talking about Al Ittihad, who despite having a very bad start to the season, are recovering and have the capacity to make Al Hilal drop points....

Their recovery is not enough to get in top four of Saudi Professional League and with 37 points, now Al Ittihad have 10 points less than Al Qadsiah and it won't be easy for Al Ittihad to equalize total points with Al Qadsiah....

Al-Ittihad chance to enter top four is not that big. Yet I will not deny their improvement in the league so far.
Right now Al-Hilal seems ok nationally and internationally. They lost points initially then recovered. Even in Asian competitions, these teams are performing very well.
Al-Ittihad will be the cause of Al-Hilal points loss in my opinion during this round

I missed the information that Ronaldo is playing again, but from what I read on the Internet, the SPL bosses showed him where his limits are when they said that it doesn't matter who he is and that the SPL will forever be bigger than one single player. This comes at a time when Ronaldo is once again not leading the table with Al Nassr and when he is behind in the goal scorer list. I can only imagine how much it pisses him off that finally some guys told him to shut up and behave. He has been a bully for all his career when he tried to kick out coaches or disrespect their decisions. I assume that this will be his last season there, but a problem is his release clause. I believe that is over 45 million and it is unlikely that a European club will want to pay it. Perhaps he pays part of it himself if really wants to go back to Portugal for the final year of his career.

[Donneski]

Speaking of just one point not being difficult to overcome, Al Hilal's next game will be against a strong opponent, I'm talking about Al Ittihad, who despite having a very bad start to the season, are recovering and have the capacity to make Al Hilal drop points....

Their recovery is not enough to get in top four of Saudi Professional League and with 37 points, now Al Ittihad have 10 points less than Al Qadsiah and it won't be easy for Al Ittihad to equalize total points with Al Qadsiah....

Al-Ittihad chance to enter top four is not that big. Yet I will not deny their improvement in the league so far.
Right now Al-Hilal seems ok nationally and internationally. They lost points initially then recovered. Even in Asian competitions, these teams are performing very well.
Al-Ittihad will be the cause of Al-Hilal points loss in my opinion during this round

Al Hilal's poor run of form seems to be over. They've won their last three two games and looks appears more formidable than before since Karim Benzema joined the club. For Al Ittihad, I don't think they'll be able to retain the league title they won this season so wether they finish in the top four or not, I'm not really interested. Now that the points difference between league leaders Al Hilal and second placed Al Nassr is just one point, I looking forward to how they manage their remaining league games and who'll win the league between the two heavyweights

[Sithara007]

Al Hilal's poor run of form seems to be over. They've won their last three two games and looks appears more formidable than before since Karim Benzema joined the club. For Al Ittihad, I don't think they'll be able to retain the league title they won this season so wether they finish in the top four or not, I'm not really interested. Now that the points difference between league leaders Al Hilal and second placed Al Nassr is just one point, I looking forward to how they manage their remaining league games and who'll win the league between the two heavyweights

The gap between Al Nassr and Al Hilal is just one point. A single match can change the table positions. And the advantage for Al Nassr is that next they will face mostly weak teams (such as Al Hazem and Al Najma). Al Hilal on the other hand has a match coming up against Al Ittihad next. And after that they need to play against Al Taawoun and Al Shabab. The arrival of Benzema has strengthened Al Hilal, but it needs to be seen whether they will be able to get full points from their next three matches. If not, it will give the momentum back to Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo.

[Ale88]

The main question is whether the Saudis will keep investing or will get tired of this game. Let's not forget that before Saudi Arabia there was China: they were spending a lot of money to buy players while offering insanely high salaries, then the government didn't see any real improvement and it all fall to the ground. Saudi Arabia must invest in their academies, they can't rely on foreigners alone.

I agree with your assumption,, as it's true. If the Saudi Arabian League relies solely on star players from Europe,, it's clearly not a good thing for the long-term progress of their football. Basically, not all European players want to join the Saudi Arabian League, even if they're offered large salaries. Furthermore,, it's important to remember that the Saudi Arabian League shouldn't be known solely for its foreign players, while their local players don't stand out. I think that's definitely something that needs to be considered.

If the Saudi Arabian League intends to advance its football in the long term,, its local players must be able to compete well with foreign players. If they can do that,, the Saudi Arabian League can develop well, even if they don't bring in many foreign players in the future. However, it's undeniable that I think the Saudi Arabian League currently only wants to make its football league famous. That's why they bring in players with very good popularity, regardless of their age. So here I am honestly quite doubtful, whether the project being run by the Saudi Arabian League is indeed long-term or not.

I would add that "building new players" and changing the local culture takes a long time. I remember reading an article about Qatar, they build more than 20 years ago the Aspire Academy and they recruit many young players but at the end we never really saw any Qatari player making it in Europe. Sure, they won a couple of Asian Cups but they still rely on a big number of naturalized players; the domestic players improved but they've never been able to make that last step they needed.

[Webetcoins]

It's obviously awesome that Ronaldo is back, even though I am someone who prefers Messi over Ronaldo, I can't deny the fact that he is excitement for world of football and I like the hype not the game itself.

You can have the greatest game ever, but if nobody is watching it's boring, so Ronaldo at least puts bums on seats and that is why it is good that he is back. Not that anything changed, he didn't play for a few games but Saudis didn't care and he had to come back. At least he is one more goal closer to his record.

[Sithara007]

It's obviously awesome that Ronaldo is back, even though I am someone who prefers Messi over Ronaldo, I can't deny the fact that he is excitement for world of football and I like the hype not the game itself.

You can have the greatest game ever, but if nobody is watching it's boring, so Ronaldo at least puts bums on seats and that is why it is good that he is back. Not that anything changed, he didn't play for a few games but Saudis didn't care and he had to come back. At least he is one more goal closer to his record.

Record is not getting any closer. He still needs another 38 goals. And his strike at Al Nassr hasn't made it any more easier. Al Nassr will play a total of 34 matches in this season of the Saudi Professional League. They have already played 21, which means that 13 are remaining. Cristiano Ronaldo is not even the top-scorer this time. That record goes to Ivan Toney of Al Ahli. Ronaldo is tied for the second position along with Julián Quiñones at 18 goals. And usually Ronaldo skips other competitions such as the King's Cup, so the chance of him getting to the record this year is pretty low.

[Tamaperdana]

Speaking of just one point not being difficult to overcome, Al Hilal's next game will be against a strong opponent, I'm talking about Al Ittihad, who despite having a very bad start to the season, are recovering and have the capacity to make Al Hilal drop points....

Their recovery is not enough to get in top four of Saudi Professional League and with 37 points, now Al Ittihad have 10 points less than Al Qadsiah and it won't be easy for Al Ittihad to equalize total points with Al Qadsiah....

Al-Ittihad chance to enter top four is not that big. Yet I will not deny their improvement in the league so far.
Right now Al-Hilal seems ok nationally and internationally. They lost points initially then recovered. Even in Asian competitions, these teams are performing very well.
Al-Ittihad will be the cause of Al-Hilal points loss in my opinion during this round

I believe that with the remaining matches in the Saudi Arabian League,, Al Ittihad is unlikely to make it into the top four. While it's true that the performance of Al Ittihad's players has improved, let's not forget that the teams in the top four are performing exceptionally well. So,, in my opinion, that's Al Ittihad's biggest challenge right now. Even if Al Ittihad could continue winning, I think it would be pointless if the teams in the top four also continued to win. That's why I don't think Al Ittihad needs many targets right now. The most important thing right now is to continue improving their team's performance. I believe that's the best step for Al Ittihad to take, as this way, Al Ittihad's performance can be even better next season if they prepare now.

[Arenga pinnata]

Record is not getting any closer. He still needs another 38 goals. And his strike at Al Nassr hasn't made it any more easier. Al Nassr will play a total of 34 matches in this season of the Saudi Professional League. They have already played 21, which means that 13 are remaining. Cristiano Ronaldo is not even the top-scorer this time. That record goes to Ivan Toney of Al Ahli. Ronaldo is tied for the second position along with Julián Quiñones at 18 goals. And usually Ronaldo skips other competitions such as the King's Cup, so the chance of him getting to the record this year is pretty low.

It would be too soon for C.Ronaldo to achieve his goal of scoring 1,000 goals this season. i think he will achieve it next season.. There are still quite a few goals left to score, unless Cristiano Ronaldo scores a lot of goals in the World Cup. but I think that will still be difficult. there is a chance, but it is still quite small.
however, next season I believe it is almost certain that Cristiano Ronaldo will achieve it; I am confident of that.

However, next season Cristiano Ronaldo may only need to score a few more goals to reach 1,000 goals. So, yes, next season everything is almost certain.

[Sithara007]

It would be too soon for C.Ronaldo to achieve his goal of scoring 1,000 goals this season. i think he will achieve it next season.. There are still quite a few goals left to score, unless Cristiano Ronaldo scores a lot of goals in the World Cup. but I think that will still be difficult. there is a chance, but it is still quite small.
however, next season I believe it is almost certain that Cristiano Ronaldo will achieve it; I am confident of that.

However, next season Cristiano Ronaldo may only need to score a few more goals to reach 1,000 goals. So, yes, next season everything is almost certain.

Not sure about next season. Remember that Ronaldo plays only in the Saudi Professional League. He never represents Al Nassr in any other competition. So apart from SPL, the only other avenue for Ronaldo is while playing for the Portuguese national team. During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the coach actually dropped Ronaldo from the playing XI. I am not sure about it this time. So overall, there is a good chance that he may miss this record next season as well. Let's see how many goals he can score in SPL for the remainder of the season. Also, it needs to be seen how he performs in the World Cup as well.

[Btcdeybodi]

It would be too soon for C.Ronaldo to achieve his goal of scoring 1,000 goals this season. i think he will achieve it next season.. There are still quite a few goals left to score, unless Cristiano Ronaldo scores a lot of goals in the World Cup. but I think that will still be difficult. there is a chance, but it is still quite small.
however, next season I believe it is almost certain that Cristiano Ronaldo will achieve it; I am confident of that.

However, next season Cristiano Ronaldo may only need to score a few more goals to reach 1,000 goals. So, yes, next season everything is almost certain.

Not sure about next season. Remember that Ronaldo plays only in the Saudi Professional League. He never represents Al Nassr in any other competition. So apart from SPL, the only other avenue for Ronaldo is while playing for the Portuguese national team. During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the coach actually dropped Ronaldo from the playing XI. I am not sure about it this time. So overall, there is a good chance that he may miss this record next season as well. Let's see how many goals he can score in SPL for the remainder of the season. Also, it needs to be seen how he performs in the World Cup as well.

AFAIK, Cristiano Ronaldo's contract with Al Nassr will terminate in June 2027 which means that he can still feature for Al Nassr next season except he drops out of the squad due to his recent disagreement in the Saudi League. He currently has 962 career goals, remaining 38 goals to reach 1000 career goals so if he can succeed to score more 20 goals this season (for Al Nassr and the world cup included), then he can probably score 18 goals next season. He needs to be focused and neglect any thing that will distract him from featuring in matches and recording his name in the score sheet.

[Volgastallion]

I knew this cant happen now and maybe is not gonna happen at all, but i really want to see Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Saudi soil just after the end of the world cup, he spend so much time there nearby to 4 years since he goes when it was the last world cup in Qatar, so is time for him to come back to europe, please go to Sporting Lisboa and ends your career there in your first team and in your soil.

[Bobrox]

Record is not getting any closer. He still needs another 38 goals. And his strike at Al Nassr hasn't made it any more easier. Al Nassr will play a total of 34 matches in this season of the Saudi Professional League. They have already played 21, which means that 13 are remaining. Cristiano Ronaldo is not even the top-scorer this time. That record goes to Ivan Toney of Al Ahli. Ronaldo is tied for the second position along with Julián Quiñones at 18 goals. And usually Ronaldo skips other competitions such as the King's Cup, so the chance of him getting to the record this year is pretty low.

Al Nassr has 13 matches left in domestic league but still have several matches in AFC Champion League Elite 2 depend Cristiano Ronaldo will play or not, I don't think difficult for him break record reach 1000 goals regarding 38 goals left. If at the end of this season still can't reach 1000 goals I think possibility hit that record at World Cup 2026 and Cristiano Ronaldo not need for next season to break his record.

During keep consistent scoring goals every games with Al Nassr is not really difficult for reaching 1000 goals, however bit difficult for scoring 38 goals at 13 matches remaining in domestic league but has chance for playing at AFC Champion League and playing at World Cup 2026 matches.

[Just Say]

The challenge for the Al Ahli team now is to keep winning and I think their focus is on recovering second place.vWith that same experience, they are determined to face Al Najma next weekend, so we can safely say that this SPL game could be relatively easy for them. The main thing is that Al Najma is now in the initial list of relegation because they are currently in 18th place in the points table, therefore o we can predict in advance that this team will not be able to compete with the team ranked third in the points table. Even so, football is unpredictable, so it is largely correct that Al-Ahli must play with concentration and Al-Najma must not be underestimated.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Only a point left for Al Nassr to take back the top position, now that Al Hilal has Benzema, they won't stop scoring and winning most of their matches. Ronaldo knew he seriously had to return back to play, he is close to the highest goal scorer, he will be needing time to make up for the goals, staying away from playing won't make him finish with the highest goal for the season, it is also necessary for him to help the team, he made  the opening goal today, a very nice play from him.

Things are very interesting now, but even with Benzema, although he has a lot of quality, CR7 is CR7. He's very close to taking the lead against the strongest rival in Arabia, It's not easy at all Even if Messi comes back, I think CR7 won't let this opportunity slip away That's what I see. Look at the protest he generated! That he'll win Something I love about CR7 is his incredibly high morale to achieve things.

[Abdulzuruku01]

Al-Ittihad chance to enter top four is not that big. Yet I will not deny their improvement in the league so far.
Right now Al-Hilal seems ok nationally and internationally. They lost points initially then recovered. Even in Asian competitions, these teams are performing very well.
Al-Ittihad will be the cause of Al-Hilal points loss in my opinion during this round

I agreed with you that Al Ittihad chance to enter top four is not that big, because Al Qadisiyah who is ranked in fourth position in the standing is ahead of Al Ittihad with 10 points, and Al Qadisiyah has strong performance which I don't think they will easily drop from that top four now.

So far in this Al Hilal is considered as the best team because they remained undefeated. Al Ittihad is improving now but I don't think they are capable to break Al Hilal unbeaten record, because of their inconsistence. Al Nassr had won Al Ittihad both home and away this season which give me confidence that Al Hilal will also defeat them.

[Nheer]

I agreed with you that Al Ittihad chance to enter top four is not that big, because Al Qadisiyah who is ranked in fourth position in the standing is ahead of Al Ittihad with 10 points, and Al Qadisiyah has strong performance which I don't think they will easily drop from that top four now.

So far in this Al Hilal is considered as the best team because they remained undefeated. Al Ittihad is improving now but I don't think they are capable to break Al Hilal unbeaten record, because of their inconsistence. Al Nassr had won Al Ittihad both home and away this season which give me confidence that Al Hilal will also defeat them.

The Saudi league is quite competitive now so any team that is not performing well will get left behind. That's just what is happening with Al Ahli, they are not consistent enough and they have been left out of top 4. The gap is quite huge for them to fight for the top 4 but it's not impossible to get if they can be consistent and win a lot of matches before the end of the league.

It's clear that Al Hilal is the best team in the league and they still remain the best even though Al Nassr is patiently waiting for them to fumble and drop points again carelessly. Al Ittihad are doing well but they are not capable of defeating Al Hilal just yet. Al Ittihad just sold their best player to Al Hilal already so that alone is enough reason for them to lose against Al Hilal.

[Ale88]

It would be too soon for C.Ronaldo to achieve his goal of scoring 1,000 goals this season. i think he will achieve it next season.. There are still quite a few goals left to score, unless Cristiano Ronaldo scores a lot of goals in the World Cup. but I think that will still be difficult. there is a chance, but it is still quite small.
however, next season I believe it is almost certain that Cristiano Ronaldo will achieve it; I am confident of that.

However, next season Cristiano Ronaldo may only need to score a few more goals to reach 1,000 goals. So, yes, next season everything is almost certain.

Not sure about next season. Remember that Ronaldo plays only in the Saudi Professional League. He never represents Al Nassr in any other competition. So apart from SPL, the only other avenue for Ronaldo is while playing for the Portuguese national team. During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the coach actually dropped Ronaldo from the playing XI. I am not sure about it this time. So overall, there is a good chance that he may miss this record next season as well. Let's see how many goals he can score in SPL for the remainder of the season. Also, it needs to be seen how he performs in the World Cup as well.

AFAIK, Cristiano Ronaldo's contract with Al Nassr will terminate in June 2027 which means that he can still feature for Al Nassr next season except he drops out of the squad due to his recent disagreement in the Saudi League. He currently has 962 career goals, remaining 38 goals to reach 1000 career goals so if he can succeed to score more 20 goals this season (for Al Nassr and the world cup included), then he can probably score 18 goals next season. He needs to be focused and neglect any thing that will distract him from featuring in matches and recording his name in the score sheet.

If he spends another season in Saudi Arabia he can definitely reach the 1,000 goal mark. If he can perform like he is doing at 41 years old I don't think being 42 will make a huge difference. Luckily for him Saudi teams mainly buy midfielders and strikers, the average defender is not that good. The only real good ones are Koulibaly and Demiral.

[BlackBoss_]

The Saudi league is quite competitive now so any team that is not performing well will get left behind. That's just what is happening with Al Ahli, they are not consistent enough and they have been left out of top 4. The gap is quite huge for them to fight for the top 4 but it's not impossible to get if they can be consistent and win a lot of matches before the end of the league.

It's clear that Al Hilal is the best team in the league and they still remain the best even though Al Nassr is patiently waiting for them to fumble and drop points again carelessly. Al Ittihad are doing well but they are not capable of defeating Al Hilal just yet. Al Ittihad just sold their best player to Al Hilal already so that alone is enough reason for them to lose against Al Hilal.

Al Hilal and Al Nassr are only 1 point different while Al Ahli is behind top two clubs with only 3 points less and they are in a title competition too. This season competition for a league title is tight and exciting enough and Al Nassr with more defeats than Al Hilal and Al Ahli so far will have to be very careful, even they have 2 points more than Al Ahli. These 3 defeats so far in this season show that Al Nassr are more vulnerable and sensitive than Al Hilal and Al Ahli in matches, even if we compare their conceded goals so far, there are not too big differences.

It's a little bit surprising that Al Ahli have best defense with only 14 conceded goals, while both Al Hilal and Al Nassr already got 18 conceded goals. The title race among top three clubs in Saudi Professional League will be decided by both attacking power and defensive capability of these competitors with best advantage is on Al Hilal with their ability of attacking and defense as well as no defeat so far in this season.