Al-Hilal vs Al-Ettifaq Prediction: A dream start for Karim after debut hat-trick

It’s the almighty clash of “the ones Benzema plays for” and “the ones Steven Gerrard used to manage” this Friday, February 13 (15:25GMT, YouTube) when the juggernaut of Al-Hilal meets the colossus of Al-Ettifaq.

Read on for your Saudi showdown lowdown as I provide my Al-Hilal vs Al-Ettifaq predictions.

Team News

Al-Hilal keeper Yassine Bounou missed training this week with a shoulder injury but reportedly he should be fit for this encounter.

Beyond that, Al-Hilal manager Simone Inzaghi has a full compliment to choose from. That should mean Kalidou Koulibaly continues as the bedrock of the defence while Karim Benzema will have support from Malcom in attack.

Al-Ettifaq have a clean bill of health. This means seasoned Premier League watchers can look forward to an airing for the club’s top scorer, ex-Liverpool midfielder Giorginio Wijnaldum.

Al-Hilal vs Al-Ettifaq Odds

The home side are priced at 1/7, reflective of their table-topping status in the Saudi Pro League. Ettifaq come in as 11/1 underdogs while the draw is marketed at 6/1.

It’s 3/1 for Wijnaldum to add to his 11 goals this term while Both Teams To Score market is 5/6.

Karim Benzema to score first @ 9/4

The 2022 Ballon d’Or recipient has cropped up a lot in this article so far. But if you’re gonna sign one of the greatest strikers of the modern era, you can expect plenty of column inches.

You can also reasonably expect plenty of goals. Benzema was only too happy to provide on his debut, hitting a hat-trick in a 6-0 immobilisation of Al-Akhdoud. You likely haven’t heard of them, cos they’re not one of the SPL teams spanking eye-watering sums on players from Brentford and Wolves.

Benzema guarantees goals. It is that simple. Cristiano Ronaldo might have done more to direct eyeballs onto Saudi football, but Benzema has arguably done more to keep them there. He won the league and the King’s Cup with Al-Ittihad, netting 57 goals in 87 games in all competitions.

Age has not blunted this sharpest of shooters. Buoyed by a hat-trick last time out, I think the fantastic Frenchman strikes again and strikes early.

Al-Hilal to win and both teams to score @ 13/10

There are goals in this Ettifaq side. We’ve covered Wijnaldum in depth and he is pivotal, from both a scoring and chance creation standpoint. 

But they can also call on former Celtic striker Moussa Dembele, who has 28 goals in his 64 Al-Ettifaq appearances.

Winger Khalid Al-Ghannam is another source of attacking spark, with seven goals from 19 games this term. 

As for Al-Hilal, we know what they bring. We saw it last week. Alongside a certain decorated centre forward, the league leaders boast Ruben Neves (eight goals, five assists), Malcom (five goals, seven assists) and Darwin Nunez (six goals, four assists). 

This is a team flush with attacking talent that has just signed the most potent forward in the league aside from Cristiano Ronaldo. Expect a win. Expect goals. Just don’t expect Al-Hilal to score all of them.

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