MW15: How Al Ittihad respond, Al Somah's big return, can bottom upset top?

After an enthralling restart to the 2024-25 Roshn Saudi League, Matchweek 15 quickly comes around with the action kicking off on Wednesday.

Here, we chart some of the main talking points heading into the games, with Benzema looking to rally his team, a bona-fide RSL legend returning, and bottom taking on top – on the league leaders' patch.

How do Al Ittihad respond to slipping from summit?

There were a few results in Matchweek 14 that can be filed under “upset”, perhaps none more so than Al Fayha holding Al Ittihad to a 1-1 draw in Buraidah on Saturday. The relegation-threatened side, with Pedro Emanuel now in charge, were in fact unfortunate not to win: Al Ittihad needed Fawaz Al Saqour’s 93-minute finish to cancel out Fashion Sakala’s history-making opener moments before.

With the dropped points – their first since Matchweek 4 in September, a run stretching nine games – Al Ittihad slipped from the top of the table and into second, albeit behind Al Hilal only on goal difference.

Still, the 2022-23 champions had been out in front since late November, so it’ll be intriguing to see how they react when they host Al Raed on Thursday. Regrettably for the home side, it appears Moussa Diaby’s return from injury might be delayed, robbing his team of the competition's lead assist maker.

That said, Al Ittihad do have Karim Benzema, Houssem Aouar and Steven Bergwijn, with the first two surely keen to redeem themselves having each failed to convert penalties at Al Fayha.

Will Al Somah roll back years on Al Orobah debut?

Saudi Arabian football was made to stand to attention on Sunday, when Al Orobah announced the return of a genuine RSL legend. Omar Al Somah, the man with more RSL goals than anyone else, was confirmed to have joined the promoted club until the end of the season.

Undeniably, it represents a huge signing for Al Orobah. Even at 35, Al Somah clearly retains the ability to plunder goals for fun: he netted 17 times in 22 Qatar Stars League appearances last season for Al Arabi.

The Al Ahli great, whose 144 goals in 180 RSL matches remains unparalleled, should add much-needed firepower to an Al Orobah that have scored only 11 goals in 14 league games – the second-worst attacking record in the division. Lying 14th, the Al Jouf club are four points above the drop zone.

Maybe Friday’s trip to Al Khaleej will be too early to judge, but a potential partnership with playmaker Cristian Tello – with four goals in 10 matches, he has been Al Orobah's bright spark – could yield superb results. Either way, Al Somah’s grip on the all-time scoring record - he leads second-placed Abderrazak Hamdallah by 10 - just got a little tighter.

How will Gomes thwart free-scoring Al Hilal?

Jose Gomes’ comeback to the RSL, and his debut with Al Fateh, did not go to plan. Rooted to the foot of the table, the Al Ahsa club were beaten 2-1 at home by fellow relegation contenders Al Wehda in the league restart last Thursday, as the envisioned new-manager bounce didn’t transpire.

The result leaves Al Fateh on six points from a possible 42 this season, three shy from second-from-bottom Al Fayha and a further three from safety.

Granted, it’s still incredibly early in Gomes’ tenure, but his role won’t get any easier in the immediate future: on Thursday, Al Fateh travel to the home of champions, and current league leaders, Al Hilal. In contrast to this week’s blunted opponents, Jorge Jesus’ men just hit Al Orobah for five in Matchweek 14.

Hence, Gomes will surely be prioritising battening down the hatches, for this round at least. However, easier said than done. With 39 goals, Al Hilal perch as the league’s deadliest attack this term. And, in that comprehensive triumph last time out, they could even make do without 2024-25 RSL leading scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic and standout Saudi Salem Al Dawsari.

Peter Szappanos, the Al Fateh No.1, can expect a taxing evening.

Why can Gerrard draw positives from Damac trip?

Any new-year optimism at Al Ettifaq dimmed somewhat on Friday, when the Dammam club were outdone by a 100th-minute goal at home to Al Kholood to slip to a seventh defeat of the campaign. Making it even more galling was that Al Ettifaq thought they'd snatched a draw once Moussa Dembele made it 2-2 six minutes into injury-time.

But Myziane Maolida’s superb, lobbed winner consigned Steven Gerrard’s side to the loss, and halted the positive vibes engendered by last month’s 2-1 victory right before the RSL paused for winter. That win, remember, represented Al Ettifaq’s first in 10 league outings.

So, if it’s not a case of back to the drawing board, the Liverpool legend must corral his hurting squad and go again. An away trip on Wednesday to a dangerous Damac with a solitary defeat in six is not exactly optimal, but Gerrard can draw confidence from his side’s 2-0 victory in Khamis Mushait in March.

And, also, in that another victory at Damac would draw Al Ettifaq level with their 10th-placed rivals.

Will Al Qadsiah’s deadly duo reunite to fire top-four bid?

Al Qadsiah’s 3-0 defeat at home to Al Taawoun came somewhat out of the blue. The Al Khobar club have outperformed the other promoted sides this season, and by some way: they went into Matchweek 14 sitting third in the table. What's more, they’d won eight on the bounce across all competitions.

However, the heavy loss in Dammam ended a six-match winning streak in the RSL. Because of that, Al Qadsiah dropped to fourth, swapping places with Al Nassr.

It most certainly didn’t help that they were without Julian Quinones, the red-hot Mexican who has eight goals in his past eight club appearances. Quinones absence, in turn, placed even more attacking emphasis on strike partner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had come into the Al Taawoun encounter on the back of netting four times in his past five club matches.

Make no mistake, the duo – each are experiencing debut seasons in Saudi – have become one of the most fearsome RSL front pairings. For that, manager Michel will hope to welcome back Quinones for Friday’s trip to Al Wehda.

That's because Al Qadsiah will most definitely recognise the need to stay on Al Nassr’s tail in third - and to keep out in front of a surging Al Ahli, two points behind in fifth.