Al Shabab vs Al-Ahli Jeddah Prediction

Mixed form, but a clear direction of travel

Al-Ahli Jeddah's recent matches span the league, cup football, continental games and pre-season friendlies, so it's not a clean run of league-only form. Across that wider sample they've won seven, drawn six and lost seven, scoring 38 and conceding 31.

Al Shabab: 20 completed matches; Al-Ahli Jeddah: 20 completed matches.

Al Shabab

20 matches

Win

20% 4 / 20

Draw

40% 8 / 20

Loss

40% 8 / 20

Scored

25

Conceded

34

Difference

-9

Al-Ahli Jeddah

20 matches

Win

35% 7 / 20

Draw

30% 6 / 20

Loss

35% 7 / 20

Scored

38

Conceded

31

Difference

+7

Al Shabab's run looks similar in shape but weaker in substance: four wins, eight draws and eight losses from 20 games, with more goals conceded than scored. That draw-heavy pattern matches their stuttering start to this league campaign.

Neither team has been flying, but Al-Ahli have found more ways to win than Al Shabab.

Comparative Team Statistics: Al Shabab vs Al-Ahli Jeddah

A fixture that rarely lacks goals

These two have met 18 times going back to 2016, and plenty of those games have been high-scoring affairs in both directions. The most recent meeting in February saw Al-Ahli Jeddah win 5-2 away from home, while the one before that finished 1-1.

History alone won't decide this one, but it does suggest neither side tends to sit back when they meet.

A big gap in the table already

Seven games into the league season, Al-Ahli Jeddah sit sixth with 12 points from four wins and three defeats. Al Shabab are down in 14th with just four points, built almost entirely from draws rather than wins.

Both sides have scored and conceded at similar rates in terms of games played, but Al-Ahli's habit of turning performances into wins is the clear difference so far.

Al-Ahli Jeddah arrive with a much healthier points total from the same number of games.

Toney the standout attacking threat

Ivan Toney has ten goals in seven matches for Al-Ahli Jeddah, comfortably the most eye-catching individual record on either side. Trincão and Spertsyan have also chipped in with goals and assists, giving the visitors more than one route to a goal.

Al Shabab:

Best assist providers:

J. Brownhill - 2

Penalty cards:

Dhari Al Anazi x 1 x 3

Al-Ahli Jeddah:

Best scorers:

I. Toney - 10

Trincão - 3

Best assist providers:

Trincão - 2

E. Spertsyan - 2

Penalty cards:

M. Demiral x 1 x 1

Rayane Hamidou x 2

I. Toney x 2

Al Shabab's player data doesn't show a comparable goal threat, with Brownhill's two assists the main creative contribution on show. That lines up with a team that's managed just six league goals all season.

Al-Ahli's attack looks far more dangerous on paper than Al Shabab's.

How this one could unfold

Put the table and the attacking numbers together and Al-Ahli Jeddah look the side with more ways to hurt their opponents. Al Shabab's struggles to win games domestically this season, combined with a lack of a standout scorer, suggest goals at the other end won't come easily for them.

That said, Al Shabab have shown they can grind out draws rather than collapse, and this fixture's history of tight, goal-filled games means a cagey outcome shouldn't be ruled out either.