Football Bet of the Day: Christmas Moussa can find the net

It’s Christmas Day. While spending time with your family is important, and a roast dinner is always nice - sometimes it's worth dipping out for a few hours so that the evening game of Monopoly with your mother-in-law doesn’t spill over. 

There is some football coming our way on December 25, with the Iran Pro League and the Saudi Pro League both delivering the goods. As Santa Claus puts his feet up after another good shift, I’m sure he’ll be taking in Al-Riyadh vs Al-Ettifaq (17:30 GMT). If he is a gambling man, I’d recommend he reads our Football Bet of the Day. 

Al-Riyadh vs Al-Ettifaq Odds

The Saudi Pro League is back, after a month off, and so form is potentially tough to judge as Christmas Day rolls around. Al-Riyadh sit down in 14th, just two places and three points above the relegation zone after a tough start to the season, while Al-Ettifaq sit ninth having won three, lost three and drawn three. 

Al-Ettifaq secured a 3-2 win over Al-Fayha last time out, while Al-Riyadh lost - 2-1 to Al-Ittihad in Jeddah last month. As I say, the four-week break between fixtures should have given teams a chance to reset, so I wouldn’t read too much into those recent results. What is apparent though, is that these are two mid-table outfits that are unlikely to challenge the big dogs in the league. 

I do think Al-Ettifaq will probably win this game on balance, but instead of backing a match result this Christmas, I’m going to pick out an anytime goalscorer. Moussa Dembele - the former Lyon and Celtic striker, made his move to Saudi Arabia in 2023, and has done reasonably well, scoring 12 goals in his first league campaign and seven in his injury-hit second. 

Talking of injury, he missed the first four games of this new season as he has ruptured his Achilles, but he has slowly worked his way back to fitness and you have to think that the break has come at a good time for him. 

He had started three out of four games prior to the break, and the only game he missed was through suspension after his red card against Al-Hazem. In those games, he has scored three goals, striking twice against Al-Fayha in that 3-2 success. 

We know all about his quality, as he scored 21 goals in 30 Ligue 1 games in one season for Lyon, and the move to Saudi hasn’t even come at the end of his career - as he is still 29. Al-Riyadh have conceded 19 goals in nine league outings, while Al-Ettifaq have conceded 18 which leads me to believe this could be an open and engaging Christmas Day contest. 

I believe the price on Dembele to score at anytime is well worth considering on December 25. 

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