Saudi Professional League 2023/2024

[UchihaSarada]

Benzema is indeed an experienced player and his performance has been excellent so far. I think at 38, he's not too old. What matters most isn't age but ability. There are quite a few young footballers whose performance sometimes declines. For example, Ronaldo, even though he's over 40, possesses excellent skills, even many ordinary young players are inferior to him.

Karim Benzema became famous in Europe when he was very young at Lyon but a transfer to Real Madrid changed his career. Firstly that transfer to a biggest and most successful club globally helped Benzema career a lot as he had opportunities to work with best coaches and players; secondly it helped him winning many big titles with Real Madrid especially 5 UEFA Champions League title; thirdly there is disadvantage that in Real Madrid he had to play as a supporter for Cristiano Ronaldo. He only returned to a striker and main goal scorer in Madrid after Ronaldo leaving the club and he almost immediately won Ballon d'Or.

The Saudi League is certainly an exciting and entertaining league, and it's no surprise that it has a large following, as it's become increasingly exciting since the arrival of star players. We don't know who will win the league, but Benzema's joining Al Hilal certainly makes the SPL more interesting. It's even possible that Benzema and his teammates could win the title this season if Al Nassr's performance declines.

Saudi Professional League actually had good strategies for development of the league and they chose a right super star player for initiating their project with Cristiano Ronaldo. Imagine that if they chose Neymar as a first super star player to buy, perhaps the league development would be very different and worse.

Benzema joined Saudi Professional League after C. Ronaldo but generally they both contributed great things for their clubs and the league and they are successful transfers for Saudi Professional League so far.

[Gallar]

Source

Next week,, Al Hilal will face Al Taawon. I don't think this match will be easy for Al Hilal. Although Al Taawon's performance has declined significantly,, they are still a formidable team in the Saudi Arabian League. Therefore,, I believe Al Hilal will likely struggle to win this match. Al Taawon is also determined to climb back up the standings, so Al Taawon certainly won't give up three points easily.

Therefore,, I personally find it a bit difficult to choose which team to bet on in this match. A draw is the most likely outcome. However,, Al Hilal certainly won't be willing to lose any points in this match. So,, with that in mind, I'm even more confused. In terms of player quality, Al Hilal is clearly superior. However,, Al Hilal's current performance is clearly not as good as it used to be. So that's why I'm confused, so what do you all think about this match.

[Tamaperdana]

Saudi Professional League actually had good strategies for development of the league and they chose a right super star player for initiating their project with Cristiano Ronaldo. Imagine that if they chose Neymar as a first super star player to buy, perhaps the league development would be very different and worse.

Benzema joined Saudi Professional League after C. Ronaldo but generally they both contributed great things for their clubs and the league and they are successful transfers for Saudi Professional League so far.

Yes,, if we're talking about popularity and money, the Saudi Arabian League has clearly been quite successful in developing its football league on the international stage. I personally wasn't familiar with the Saudi Arabian League, but after Ronaldo arrived, I've become very familiar with it. However, when it comes to the development of football academies there, I don't think things are particularly good at the moment. Currently,, Saudi Arabian League teams, especially those funded by public funds, rely heavily on European players.

As a result,, local players are currently underutilized. All eyes are on the newly arrived stars. I believe this is a downside to the Saudi Arabian League's project. What's the point of making the Saudi Arabian League famous if it's putting local players at a disadvantage?? I think it would be better if the Saudi Arabiann League also developed and provided more opportunities for local players. So that players from there can reach the international stage too.

[tygeade]

Al Nassr couldn't win the league, because they failed to provide proper backup to Ronaldo, and also because they completely ignored the defense. I thought that their issues got partially resolved once they brought in João Félix in the place of Jhon Durán, and Iñigo Martínez to replace Aymeric Laporte. It worked to some extent, but there is still considerable load on Ronaldo. Benzema doesn't need to worry about any of this. Al Hilal is a pretty balanced squad. The issue is with Benzema himself, as he is not performing up to the expectation.

It's NEVER Ronaldo is it? It's always the team around him. When he goes to Juventus and the team that dominated the league for a decade becomes bad when he gets old, is not his fault because he did great with them at UCL so it shouldn't be him, when he moved to United yet again and they sucked it wasn't him it was the coach and the ownership, and when he moved to Al Nassr and kept failing to win it wasn't him it was the team built around him. For some reason it is never about him.

Or maybe we should realize that he was an unbelievably good player at one point, but just became a guy who taps in and scores and aside from that he is nowhere to be found and in big games those tap ins do not come so he does absolutely nothing and at this age he is not even worth the salary he gets.

[Nheer]

Al Nassr couldn't win the league, because they failed to provide proper backup to Ronaldo, and also because they completely ignored the defense. I thought that their issues got partially resolved once they brought in João Félix in the place of Jhon Durán, and Iñigo Martínez to replace Aymeric Laporte. It worked to some extent, but there is still considerable load on Ronaldo. Benzema doesn't need to worry about any of this. Al Hilal is a pretty balanced squad. The issue is with Benzema himself, as he is not performing up to the expectation.

It's NEVER Ronaldo is it? It's always the team around him. When he goes to Juventus and the team that dominated the league for a decade becomes bad when he gets old, is not his fault because he did great with them at UCL so it shouldn't be him, when he moved to United yet again and they sucked it wasn't him it was the coach and the ownership, and when he moved to Al Nassr and kept failing to win it wasn't him it was the team built around him. For some reason it is never about him.

Or maybe we should realize that he was an unbelievably good player at one point, but just became a guy who taps in and scores and aside from that he is nowhere to be found and in big games those tap ins do not come so he does absolutely nothing and at this age he is not even worth the salary he gets.

You being unreasonably ridiculous. Why do people just expect any team he plays at to be the best? It's not like he is young or something, with his age you don't expect him to play as he did at Real Madrid and also his contributions in all the teams you mentioned were really great. In football goal are what really matters because they win you matches and that's what Ronaldo offers all the teams he played at. At Juventus he scored above 100 goals for them in just 3 seasons and you still think he's the problem. You should go back and see the caliber of players he played with at Juventus.

At Manchester United he joined when the team was already struggling, they had a terrible coach and everything was wrong but you make it look like he was the bad luck. And with Al Nassr now he has always been their highest scoring player and has above 100 goals already in his time here but he's the reason they are not winning the league.

He played his part in all teams but you want to blame the success of a team on one player. Ronaldo brings goals wherever he is but you think he score from tap ins and penalties LOL. If tap ins and penalties are that easy why is every player not scoring them? You're just intentionally bias and it's clear you don't like him so what's the point arguing with you.

[landheer]

Al Hilal is a lucky club to have Karim Benzema, as we know this French player is a pure attacker. Besides, this is a player with a lot of experience as we have seen him play a strong role in the Al Ittihad team before, and he may be able to extend that influence even when he joins his new club. In fact, on March 7th, former Real Madrid player Karim Benzema scored two goals for his new club, Al Hilal, against Al Najma, so our eyes are now on the 27th round of the Saudi Pro League as Al Hilal's opponents are Al Taawoun, maybe this French player will have the ability to score in that match as well.

Yes, that's right, al Hilal is very fortunate to have Benzema, and this will certainly improve Al Hilal's performance al Nassr certainly needs to be more vigilant now, as Al Hilal's squad is certainly getting better, posing a serious threat to Al Nassr's chances of winning the SPL title.

Now I'm also looking forward to the Al Nassr vs. Al Taawon match, as it will certainly be very exciting, and I hope Benzema can score in that match, just like he did against al Najma. I think I'll be favoring Al Hilal in that match. What about you?

[Webetcoins]

Eight games is a lot when you are talking about a single game difference, obviously it would not be easy to accept it as it is and we should not be considering this as something that would not be easy to accept, it is a bigger difference than that for sure.

We should realize that if Al Nassr wants to win a title finally, which they have been trying and failing since Ronaldo joined, then they have to end up getting wins all the way until Al Hilal loses points somewhere, and thas not an easy task.

[Xyloo]

Eight games is a lot when you are talking about a single game difference, obviously it would not be easy to accept it as it is and we should not be considering this as something that would not be easy to accept, it is a bigger difference than that for sure.

We should realize that if Al Nassr wants to win a title finally, which they have been trying and failing since Ronaldo joined, then they have to end up getting wins all the way until Al Hilal loses points somewhere, and thas not an easy task.

Currently, Al Nassr is leading the league, three points ahead of Al Hilal. They now aim to maintain this lead and win the championship at the end of the season. They haven't won the Saudi Arabian championship since Cristiano Ronaldo moved there. This year they are very close and hopefully they can achieve it. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 21 goals this season, which is a great achievement for him. I would love to see this crowned with a championship.

[qurbanshah02]

Source

Next week,, Al Hilal will face Al Taawon. I don't think this match will be easy for Al Hilal. Although Al Taawon's performance has declined significantly,, they are still a formidable team in the Saudi Arabian League. Therefore,, I believe Al Hilal will likely struggle to win this match. Al Taawon is also determined to climb back up the standings, so Al Taawon certainly won't give up three points easily.

Therefore,, I personally find it a bit difficult to choose which team to bet on in this match. A draw is the most likely outcome. However,, Al Hilal certainly won't be willing to lose any points in this match. So,, with that in mind, I'm even more confused. In terms of player quality, Al Hilal is clearly superior. However,, Al Hilal's current performance is clearly not as good as it used to be. So that's why I'm confused, so what do you all think about this match.

I don't believe it because Al-Hilal's performance and position are quite strong and successful and I consider Al-Taawoun a good team but I don't think they are capable of winning this match. Although Al-Taawoun can definitely put pressure and defend themselves in this match, which can make the match interesting. Al-Taawoun is not far behind, but if they don't succeed in this match, it will be difficult for them because the top teams don't bring weaknesses in themselves, but they succeed in the match by playing better. Al-Hilal is better in this match, so I will predict in their favor this time and their performance in this match is also very strong for us. Therefore, Al-Taawoun will definitely play well in the match but they cannot control Al-Hilal, so Al-Hilal will score 1 or 2 goals in this match and win.

[Juicyhome]

Currently, Al Nassr is leading the league, three points ahead of Al Hilal. They now aim to maintain this lead and win the championship at the end of the season. They haven't won the Saudi Arabian championship since Cristiano Ronaldo moved there. This year they are very close and hopefully they can achieve it. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 21 goals this season, which is a great achievement for him. I would love to see this crowned with a championship.

I would love to see C.Ronaldo wins the title this season too, he has tried for the league and the only honor left is for him to be crowned the championship title, I know is not given one has to work hard for it and he's doing it, he has been the highest scorer for the league since he arrived at Saudi Arabia.

This year is his year if he didn't mess up, he's injured already and it will really affect his golden boot race this season, if he misses it and win the title is still very good result, he has so many golden boots except Saudi Arabia pro league title.

[beerlover]

Al Hilal is a lucky club to have Karim Benzema, as we know this French player is a pure attacker. Besides, this is a player with a lot of experience as we have seen him play a strong role in the Al Ittihad team before, and he may be able to extend that influence even when he joins his new club. In fact, on March 7th, former Real Madrid player Karim Benzema scored two goals for his new club, Al Hilal, against Al Najma, so our eyes are now on the 27th round of the Saudi Pro League as Al Hilal's opponents are Al Taawoun, maybe this French player will have the ability to score in that match as well.

Yes, that's right, al Hilal is very fortunate to have Benzema, and this will certainly improve Al Hilal's performance al Nassr certainly needs to be more vigilant now, as Al Hilal's squad is certainly getting better, posing a serious threat to Al Nassr's chances of winning the SPL title.

Now I'm also looking forward to the Al Nassr vs. Al Taawon match, as it will certainly be very exciting, and I hope Benzema can score in that match, just like he did against al Najma. I think I'll be favoring Al Hilal in that match. What about you?

This is what Ronaldo was mad about, because Al Hilal gets to keep spending money over and over and keep getting the best they can, and even players from other Saudi league teams, just to beat Al NASSR. Dude is right to feel pissed, because it looks to him like the entire organization allows whatever teams can do to beat Al Nassr and Ronaldo, whoever is their closest opponent, they just make sure they do whatever they can to make that team better.

This is why it's understandable that he was angry about it and didn't even play for a few games. I think it's clear that we should see Ronaldo still keep playing, doing great and we should be able to see him get better and better with time, because there is a real chance this season.

[Dump3er]

This is what Ronaldo was mad about, because Al Hilal gets to keep spending money over and over and keep getting the best they can, and even players from other Saudi league teams, just to beat Al NASSR. Dude is right to feel pissed, because it looks to him like the entire organization allows whatever teams can do to beat Al Nassr and Ronaldo, whoever is their closest opponent, they just make sure they do whatever they can to make that team better.

This is why it's understandable that he was angry about it and didn't even play for a few games. I think it's clear that we should see Ronaldo still keep playing, doing great and we should be able to see him get better and better with time, because there is a real chance this season.

If there is one thing that is not playing in his favor, it is time. Ronaldo is not getting any younger and he won't get any better from here on. He can try to maintain his shape and play more intelligently rather than force.

As you say, Ronaldo was mad about transfer policy issues because he argues that other clubs spend more. I think Ronaldo knew from the beginning which league he is going to join and how that league is run politically because that is what it is, politics.

See the top scorers of the other teams, they are no names and what is Ronaldo complaining about? He has Felix, he has Mane, he has Coman.

[Sithara007]

If there is one thing that is not playing in his favor, it is time. Ronaldo is not getting any younger and he won't get any better from here on. He can try to maintain his shape and play more intelligently rather than force.

As you say, Ronaldo was mad about transfer policy issues because he argues that other clubs spend more. I think Ronaldo knew from the beginning which league he is going to join and how that league is run politically because that is what it is, politics.

See the top scorers of the other teams, they are no names and what is Ronaldo complaining about? He has Felix, he has Mane, he has Coman.

Ronaldo was right in case of Benzema's transfer. And first of all, it is not the clubs themselves who spend big on players in the Saudi Professional League. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) owns 75% of the top 4 clubs, and they are the ones who decide how much money a particular club can spend. Ronaldo's complaint was that Al Nassr is not permitted to spend as much as their rivals (Al Hilal). And secondly, although he has Sadio Mané in his team the fortunes for Al Nassr improved only after João Félix joined the team. Mané has been out of form for quite some time now.

[tbct_mt2]

Ronaldo was right in case of Benzema's transfer. And first of all, it is not the clubs themselves who spend big on players in the Saudi Professional League. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) owns 75% of the top 4 clubs, and they are the ones who decide how much money a particular club can spend. Ronaldo's complaint was that Al Nassr is not permitted to spend as much as their rivals (Al Hilal). And secondly, although he has Sadio Mané in his team the fortunes for Al Nassr improved only after João Félix joined the team. Mané has been out of form for quite some time now.

With investment and huge financial support from PIF, the development growth of Saudi Professional League looks to be more strategic and sustainable than what happened in China with Chinese Super League years ago. Clubs in Saudi Arabia tend to have better financial resources in the long term than Chinese clubs so if the Saudi Arabian government want to continue this project, they won't lack of money for its continuation and the league will continue having many star players from Europe and other nations.

However in order to grow the domestic league as well as national team well, they must maintain this star player purchasing strategy and also spend more money and resources for youth academies in their nation. Youth players will play most important roles for future of Saudi Professional League as well as their national team. Star players from other nations will only be able to bring some short term effects and surely can not improve competitiveness of Saudi Arabian national team in Asian Cup or World Cup tournament.

[wakier]

Eight games is a lot when you are talking about a single game difference, obviously it would not be easy to accept it as it is and we should not be considering this as something that would not be easy to accept, it is a bigger difference than that for sure.

We should realize that if Al Nassr wants to win a title finally, which they have been trying and failing since Ronaldo joined, then they have to end up getting wins all the way until Al Hilal loses points somewhere, and thas not an easy task.

Currently, Al Nassr is leading the league, three points ahead of Al Hilal. They now aim to maintain this lead and win the championship at the end of the season. They haven't won the Saudi Arabian championship since Cristiano Ronaldo moved there. This year they are very close and hopefully they can achieve it. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 21 goals this season, which is a great achievement for him. I would love to see this crowned with a championship.

Actually, being 3 points ahead is not a big difference in points because it is only 1 match difference that will change everything if Al Nassr loses points in one of the matches they will play so at least Al Nassr must be 5 points ahead to be able to sit more comfortably at the top of the standings but of course that requires Al Hilal to lose, but if Al Hilal performs consistently and does not lose Al Nassr must also do the same in order to win the SPL title this season, Ronaldo will definitely return soon and strengthen Al Nassr if he is already in the team will be a little calmer.

[Tonimez]

Ronaldo was right in case of Benzema's transfer. And first of all, it is not the clubs themselves who spend big on players in the Saudi Professional League. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) owns 75% of the top 4 clubs, and they are the ones who decide how much money a particular club can spend. Ronaldo's complaint was that Al Nassr is not permitted to spend as much as their rivals (Al Hilal). And secondly, although he has Sadio Mané in his team the fortunes for Al Nassr improved only after João Félix joined the team. Mané has been out of form for quite some time now.

With investment and huge financial support from PIF, the development growth of Saudi Professional League looks to be more strategic and sustainable than what happened in China with Chinese Super League years ago. Clubs in Saudi Arabia tend to have better financial resources in the long term than Chinese clubs so if the Saudi Arabian government want to continue this project, they won't lack of money for its continuation and the league will continue having many star players from Europe and other nations.

However in order to grow the domestic league as well as national team well, they must maintain this star player purchasing strategy and also spend more money and resources for youth academies in their nation. Youth players will play most important roles for future of Saudi Professional League as well as their national team. Star players from other nations will only be able to bring some short term effects and surely can not improve competitiveness of Saudi Arabian national team in Asian Cup or World Cup tournament.

You're very correct about developing their academy's players. However the relevance the Saudi league is enjoying today in the world of football is proudly sponsored by foreign players spear headed by the arrival of Christiano Ronaldo. There has been a lot of reformations in the league and a lot of competitiveness too. Back in Ronaldo first year, the league has always witnessed low turnout unlike this day. Rinaldo's move lured a lot of star players into the league and it was a very good strategy by PIF to promote their league.

Al Hilal's dominance is not far from the the influence of the funds allocated to them and if Ronaldo decides to see it as PIF running their business their own way, maybe he would only focus on making the money and forget about the club's success nor show interest in the quality of players they sign for Al Nassir.

The Saudi Arabia players should use this opportunity to develop themselves to compete in the world stage because just like you said, foreign players can not play for the country during a world cup tournament.

[landheer]

Source

Next week,, Al Hilal will face Al Taawon. I don't think this match will be easy for Al Hilal. Although Al Taawon's performance has declined significantly,, they are still a formidable team in the Saudi Arabian League. Therefore,, I believe Al Hilal will likely struggle to win this match. Al Taawon is also determined to climb back up the standings, so Al Taawon certainly won't give up three points easily.

Therefore,, I personally find it a bit difficult to choose which team to bet on in this match. A draw is the most likely outcome. However,, Al Hilal certainly won't be willing to lose any points in this match. So,, with that in mind, I'm even more confused. In terms of player quality, Al Hilal is clearly superior. However,, Al Hilal's current performance is clearly not as good as it used to be. So that's why I'm confused, so what do you all think about this match.

Although Al Hilal is ranked 2nd and Al Taawon is ranked 5th, Al Taawon is a team that cannot be underestimated by Al Hilal because in their last match the result was 1-1 so it is certain that the match is not easy to predict the result even though of course there is a big chance for Al Hilal to win. But to predict the match I will favor Al Hilal to win because I think Inzaghi will definitely make a good strategy and will learn from previous experiences so I think Al Hilal will win and I predict 3-1 for Al Hilal's victory. But the unique thing is that Al Nassr definitely hopes that Al Hilal will lose in that match so that Al Nassr can sit comfortably at the top of the standings. But it seems that in the Al Hilal vs Al Taawon match I will not spend a lot of money because the risk is very high. In my opinion, if you are in doubt, it is better to just bet.

[Gallar]

Eight games is a lot when you are talking about a single game difference, obviously it would not be easy to accept it as it is and we should not be considering this as something that would not be easy to accept, it is a bigger difference than that for sure.

We should realize that if Al Nassr wants to win a title finally, which they have been trying and failing since Ronaldo joined, then they have to end up getting wins all the way until Al Hilal loses points somewhere, and thas not an easy task.

Yes,, you are absolutely right, my friend. It is not easy for Al Nasr to become champions in the Saudi Arabian League, even though they are currently quite superior in the standings. Because in the remaining matches that they have to face now,, it is clear that Al Nasr needs to have a very good performance to be able to beat all the teams in their remaining matches. Because currently the opponents that Al Nasr will face are clearly not ordinary teams, because the opponents that Al Nasr must face in the remaining matches include Al Hilal, Al Ahli, Al Qadisiyah, and Al Ettifaq.

We all know that these teams are very strong teams and even a team like Al Nasr will definitely have difficulty winning against them. So, therefore, becoming champions this season will clearly not be easy for Al Nasr, especially now that Ronaldo is still injured, it will clearly add to the challenge for Al Nasr. But even so, Al Nasr players must remain optimistic, so don't give up before fighting. Because basically, even though it is difficult, Al Nasr still has the greatest possibility of becoming champions in the Saudi Arabian league.

[Sithara007]

With investment and huge financial support from PIF, the development growth of Saudi Professional League looks to be more strategic and sustainable than what happened in China with Chinese Super League years ago. Clubs in Saudi Arabia tend to have better financial resources in the long term than Chinese clubs so if the Saudi Arabian government want to continue this project, they won't lack of money for its continuation and the league will continue having many star players from Europe and other nations.

However in order to grow the domestic league as well as national team well, they must maintain this star player purchasing strategy and also spend more money and resources for youth academies in their nation. Youth players will play most important roles for future of Saudi Professional League as well as their national team. Star players from other nations will only be able to bring some short term effects and surely can not improve competitiveness of Saudi Arabian national team in Asian Cup or World Cup tournament.

Chinese football association also tried the same strategy, but after 2 years or so they abandoned their plans. On the other hand, Saudis are looking for long-term and are not much bothered about short-term results. And after many years of investment, now the results are visible on field. Many of the Saudi players are now performing well in international matches, and this time they qualified for the FIFA World Cup without much difficulty (easily defeated both Iraq and Indonesia during AFC fourth round). Sustained investment would mean that Saudi Arabia will become one of the football powerhouses in Asia.

[Arenga pinnata]

Source

Next week,, Al Hilal will face Al Taawon. I don't think this match will be easy for Al Hilal. Although Al Taawon's performance has declined significantly,, they are still a formidable team in the Saudi Arabian League. Therefore,, I believe Al Hilal will likely struggle to win this match. Al Taawon is also determined to climb back up the standings, so Al Taawon certainly won't give up three points easily.

Therefore,, I personally find it a bit difficult to choose which team to bet on in this match. A draw is the most likely outcome. However,, Al Hilal certainly won't be willing to lose any points in this match. So,, with that in mind, I'm even more confused. In terms of player quality, Al Hilal is clearly superior. However,, Al Hilal's current performance is clearly not as good as it used to be. So that's why I'm confused, so what do you all think about this match.

I think Al-Hilal is clearly the favorite. although this team doesn’t always play as well as it usually does, there’s no doubt that Al-Hilal’s squad depth is far superior to Al-Taawon’s. in fact, Al-Hilal now has Benzema, which has significantly improved the team’s attacking prowess this season.
A draw is also a possibility. but in my opinion, the most likely outcome is that both teams will score. Because if we look back, we can see that Al-Taawon almost always scores in every match they play,