Record champions Al-Hilal hosted Saudi League holders Al-Ittihad in the first leg of the 2023/24 AFC Champions League quarter final tie.
HLL vs ITT Match Details
Date: Tuesday, 5 March 2024
Time: 21:00 (AST), 23:30 (IST)
Venue: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh
HLL vs ITT Match Preview
Al-Hilal has been the team to beat this season carrying a sensational 33-game unbeaten streak with the last 27 ending in victories. The club from the capital city of Saudi Arabia are leading their domestic league table by nine points and also remains in the running to lift a record-extending fifth AFC Champions League title. Managed by Jorge Jesus, Al-Hilal came out of the group stage unbeaten, dropped points just once and conceded just twice from six matches. The team faced Iranian side Sepahan in the last-16 stage whom they beat 6-2 on aggregate with 3-1 wins both home and away. That led Al-Hilal paired with an interesting tie against fellow side Al-Ittihad in the quarterfinal. It is the fourth meeting between the sides at the continental level since 2011 and the one Jesus’s men would like to triumph having beaten their opponent 3-1 in the league just four days ago. Al-Hilal have also not suffered elimination from the last eight since 2011-12 so there is every right for them to feel confident.
N'Golo Kante’s 12th-minute opener ultimately brought no joy for Al-Ittihad as strikes from Saleh Al Shehri, Malcom and Saud Abdulhamid forced them to concede a tough defeat against Al-Hilal at the weekend. The loss was a demotivating one ahead of making consecutive trips from Jeddah to Riyadh, this time in the AFC Champions League. With their Saudi league defence also seemingly over having endured a difficult season, Al-Ittihad are hoping for some redemption at the continental level. Marcelo Gallardo's men came out as group winners and have lost just one game in this tournament so far. While Navbahor Namajan gave them a tough fight in the last 16 by drawing goalless in the first leg at home and taking the lead in the second leg, Al-Ittihad managed to avoid embarrassment in front of their home support with a 2-1 comeback win. The visitors will not be the favourites going into the midweek tie having failed to win any of their last seven meetings against Al-Hilal in all competition with no away triumphs in this fixture since 2016.
Recent Form (all competitions)
HLL: WWWWW
ITT: DWWWL
Recent Form (AFC Champions League)
HLL: WWWWW
ITT: LWWDW
HLL vs ITT Team News
Neymar remains out with the ACL injury he suffered while on international duties in October with Ahmed Bamsaud, Ahmed Sharahili and Abdullah Al-Jadaani also out for the same reason. Whereas, Luiz Felipe is recovering from a muscle tear. Meanwhile, Al-Ittihad wil have a fully available squad to them.
HLL vs ITT Predicted Lineups
Al-Hilal
Bono; Abdulhamid, Koulibaly, Al-Bulaihi, N. Al-Dawsari; Neves, Kanno; Al-Faraj, Malcom, S. Al-Dawsari; Mitrovic
Al-Ittihad
Al-Mayouf; Al-Sqoor, Hawsawi, Hegazi, Kadesh; Kante, Fabinho; F. Al-Ghamdi, Al-Sahafi; Hamdallah, Benzema
HLL vs ITT Head-to-Head (all competitions)
Played - 82
HLL won - 38
Drawn - 23
ITT won - 21
HLL vs ITT Dream11 Match Prediction
Al Hilal are favorites to clinch the victory against Al-Ittihad having not lost a single game at home this season.
HLL vs ITT Dream11 Top picks
Captain Pick: Aleksandar Mitrović
Vice-captain Pick: Salem Al-Dawsari
Others: Karim Benzema
Our top picks for the HLL vs ITT Dream11 team are Aleksandar Mitrović who is the second-most goalscorer of the Champions League with seven goals (19 goals, 5 assists in Saudi League) and Salem Al-Dawsari with 16 goal contributions in all competitions this season.
HLL vs ITT Dream11 Team Suggestion
GK: Bono (Cr - 8, Pts - 88)
DEF: Al-Bulaihi (Cr - 8, Pts - 318), Koulibaly (Cr - 8.5, Pts - 221), Abdulhamid (Cr - 8.5, Pts - 325)
MID: S Al-Dawsari (Cr - 9, Pts - 344), Neves (Cr - 8.5, Pts - 221), Fabinho (Cr - 8, Pts - 193), Kante (Cr - 8, Pts - 182)
FW: Benzema (Cr - 9, Pts - 76), Hamdallah (Cr - 9, Pts - 371), Mitrovic (Cr - 9, Pts - 523)
Vice-captain: Salem Al-Dawsari
Captain: Aleksandar Mitrović
Stay tuned to Fantasy Football for upcoming matches.
