Al Ittihad will host Al Fateh on Thursday in Saudi Professional League round seven after winning the first day of the new AFC Champions League season.
The Role Model travel to the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium hoping to defeat the hosts and make it three wins in a row after losing all five of their previous encounters since March 2021.
Al Ittihad won the Group C opener against FC AGMK at home by a score of 3-0 to get their 2023–24 AFC Champions League campaign off to a strong start.
At the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium, it was a story of two halves as Romarinho's two goals in the first half and Haroune Camara's goal in the 11th minute were enough to seal the visitors' opening-day loss.
The team led by Nuno Espirito Santo now focuses on the Professional League after beating Al Akhdood on September 14 thanks to a goal from Karim Benzema in the second half.
Prior to that, the Tigers' perfect start to the new Saudi top-flight season came to an end when, on September 1, they fell 4-3 to Al-Hilal, snapping a four-match winning streak.
Al Ittihad are now ranked second in the Professional League standings with 15 points after six games, one point behind league leaders Al-Hilal who are currently first. They are tied on points with third-place Al-Ahli.
Al Fateh, on the other hand, picked up consecutive victories for the first time this season last Friday at the Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium when they thrashed Al-Khaleej 3-1.
The visitors were put on the board by a brace from Moroccan midfielder Mourad Batna in the first half, and after Sofiane Bendebka added a third in the 66th, Fabio Martins' late penalty brought Al-Khaleej back into the game.
At the Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Stadium on September 2, Firas Al-Buraikan, Lucas Zelarayan, Sofiane Bendebka, and a brace from Batna all scored goals in a 5-1 drubbing of a 10-man Al-Ahli.
Al Fateh are now unbeaten in their three away games this season after last Friday's outcome. They have victories against Al-Akhdood and Al-Khaleej, with a 2-2 draw against Damac on August 29 sandwiching the two triumphs.
The team of Slaven Bilic currently sits seventh in the league standings with 11 points after winning three and drawing two of their first six games. However, with a victory on Thursday, they might move up to fourth position.
