Karim Benzema and Al-Ittihad will take the pitch against Nawaf Al Mutairi and Al-Raed FC on Thursday morning.
Al-Raed FC will travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday afternoon in Week 15 of the Saudi Pro League regular season. In Jeddah, the club will face off against Al-Ittihad on its home field, Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. Al-Ittihad is tied for the top overall seed in the league with a 12-1-1 record. Technically, it sits at No. 2 with a two-goal differential worse than Al-Hilal, the team at No. 1. It has a total of 37 points on the table and a goal differential fo 23 total goals. It sits nine points above Al-Nassr, the No. 3 team on the table.
Al Ittihad took down Al Hilal in the quarterfinals of the 2024-25 Saudi King’s Cup to begin the year with a 114th-minute, game-tying goal from Karim Benzema to send the game to penalties. The club came off of that win and drew with Al-Fayha in the next league game, 1-1. Fawaz Al Saqour scored the only goal of the game for the team in the third minute of 90-minute stoppage time.
Al Raed FC heads into this week in the Saudi Pro League with a 4-2-8 record on the season. The club sits as the No. 12 team in the table with a total of 14 points through 14 games. It also boasts a negative-four-goal differential, sitting one point behind Al Ettifaq and one point ahead of Al Kholood and Al Orobah.
Al Raed also advanced into the semifinals of the Saudi King’s Cup after taking down Al Jabalain in the quarterfinals in penalties after a 1-1 draw in extra time. Nawaf Al Mutairi scored the game-tying goal that sent the game to extras. The team came back and lost last week to Damac in a regular season matchup.