Karim Benzema will look to lead Al Ittihad to a good result in their first match since the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo. Getty
Karim Benzema will look to lead Al Ittihad to a good result in their first match since the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo. Getty
Karim Benzema will look to lead Al Ittihad to a good result in their first match since the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo. Getty
Karim Benzema will look to lead Al Ittihad to a good result in their first match since the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo. Getty

Saudi Pro League predictions: Al Hilal to drop points, Al Ittihad get back on track


Wael Jabir
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The final matchweek of Saudi Pro League takes place across the weekend before the international break, and it will see leaders Al Hilal facing one of their toughest challenges yet when they take on high-flying Al Taawoun.

Meanwhile, Al Ittihad start life without their title-winning manager Nuno Espirito Santo following his midweek sacking and Al Nassr look to continue their winning run.

Al Khaleej v Al Tai – Thursday, 7pm

An important encounter in the race to escape relegation between two teams separated by only one point in the SPL table. Both teams have won two of their last 10 matches, but it is the visitors who have momentum on their side, having collected four points from their last two games.

Under Romanian coach Laurentiu Reghecampf, Al Tai have been scoring for fun, bagging six goals in their previous two matches. Rakan Shamlan scored in both games and will be looking to add to his tally.

Prediction: Al Khaleej 3-3 Al Tai

Al Raed v Al Shabab – Thursday, 7pm

It will be a long night for Al Raed in front of their home fans. Bottom of the table and without a win in seven matches, they take on a rejuvenated Al Shabab side who, under coach Igor Biscan, have won two of their last three matches, including beating defending champions Al Ittihad last time out.

While Senegalese forward Habib Diallo continues to misfire for the visitors, the return of Carlos Junior, their top scorer last season, has helped Al Shabab find goals. Expect him to be on the scoresheet again in Buraidah.

Prediction: Al Raed 0-3 Al Shabab

Al Riyadh v Al Fateh – Thursday, 10pm

The home side have collected a respectable seven points from the last 15 available and look to have kick-started their season as they seek to avoid an immediate return to the second tier in their first season in the top flight since 2004-05.

Slaven Bilic’s Al Fateh lost to Al Hilal 2-0 last time out, but that defeat to the unbeaten leaders will not be a cause for concern for the Croatian coach whose side had won four on the trot before that. One of the division’s best attacking sides will be eager to bounce back.

Prediction: Al Riyadh 1-4 Al Fateh

Damac v Al Ahli – Thursday, 10pm

Despite there being seven places in the table between the two teams, this promises to be an exciting encounter between two in-form teams. The hosts won three of their last five and only lost one in six, including draws against Al Hilal and Al Taawoun. Georges-Keven N’Koudou continues to impress for them.

Al Ahli bounced back after their defeat to Al Hilal, beating Al Riyadh 3-0 to overtake Al Fateh into fourth place. Coach Matthias Jaissle’s men have been inconsistent, and Roberto Firmino’s continued goal drought seemed to have hurt them, but they will be encouraged by the goals of Feras Al Buraikan and Gabriel Veiga in their last game.

Prediction: Damac 2-2 Al Ahli

Al Hilal v Al Taawoun – Friday, 7pm

With over a third of the season gone, Al Hilal are yet to lose a game and they are opening up a gap at the top of the table thanks to their recent run of five consecutive wins. If any team can dare to stop them, it will be this season’s dark horses, Al Taawoun.

Coach Pericles Chamusca’s side have already beaten Al Nassr and drew with Al Ittihad, establishing them as title contenders at this stage of the campaign as they sit third. They are unbeaten in six, but a recent run of three draws has slowed down their momentum.

Prediction: Al Hilal 1-1 Al Taawoun

Al Ittihad v Abha – Friday, 10pm

There was a time this season where Al Ittihad seemed to win every game and never concede, but that time has long gone and the defending champions are now on a five-match winless run. Coach Nuno Espirito Santo paid the price, losing his job after a 2-0 defeat to Iraq’s Air Force Club in the AFC Champions League in midweek.

Abha have finally found their mojo under new coach Youssef Al Manai. They won as many in their last two matches as they did in the 10 before that and have climbed out of the drop zone into 12th place. Can their revival continue or will the hosts get a reaction to Nuno's sacking?

Prediction: Al Ittihad 2-1 Abha

Al Okhdood v Al Hazem – Saturday, 7pm

Two newly-promoted sides lock horns in a game that could end up determining which one of them returns to the First Division League come May. Both are on seven points, in relegation positions, with only goal difference favouring Al Okhdood.

Al Hazem had a mini resurgence following the appointment of Jose Carreno as their new manager, collecting four points from their first two matches under the Uruguayan before losing to Al Wehda in their most recent league outing.

Prediction: Al Okhdood 0-2 Al Hazem

Al Ettifaq coach Steven Gerrard after the match against Al Raed. Reuters
Al Ettifaq coach Steven Gerrard after the match against Al Raed. Reuters

Al Fayha v Al Ettifaq – Saturday, 7pm

Inconsistency has been the only constant for both teams this season, and it shows. Both have a win, a draw and a loss in their three most recent matches. Although only two places separate them in the table, a strong start to the season has Al Ettifaq sitting on 21 points in seventh, while Al Fayha only have 15 in ninth.

Zambian forward Fashion Sakala has been in hot form for Al Fayha, scoring six goals this season, while Al Ettifaq continue to struggle in attack in the absence of their main man Moussa Dembele who had netted seven already before his injury, and his absence will be heavily felt again.

Prediction: Al Fayha 3-1 Al Ettifaq

Al Wehda v Al Nassr – Saturday, 10pm

Al Nassr did not need Cristiano Ronaldo to beat Al Duhail in Qatar 3-2 in the AFC Champions League midweek, and the Portuguese ace will be nicely rested ahead of the trip to Mecca, having not travelled with the squad.

Anderson Talisca delivered with a hat-trick midweek and his scoring form has been nothing short of exceptional in the SPL, too. Meanwhile, Al Wehda will rely on the attacking prowess of Craig Goodwin who is enjoying his best scoring season in SPL with five goals to his name already.

Prediction: Al Wehda 2-4 Al Nassr

The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Honeymoonish
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Sam Smith

Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi

When: Saturday November 24

Rating: 4/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
What it means to be a conservationist

Who is Enric Sala?

Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.

What is biodiversity?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.

About Housecall

Date started: July 2020

Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: HealthTech

# of staff: 10

Funding to date: Self-funded

Three ways to boost your credit score

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While you're here
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Updated: November 08, 2023, 5:43 PM`