Will Karim Benzema beat Cristiano Ronaldo and Malcolm? Who will become the champion of Saudi Arabia?
Sergey Skripnichenko August 10, 2023, 13:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Al-Ittihad will be looking for another championship victory.
The Middle East is gradually attracting the attention of the fans. If in the winter many began to look to Saudi Arabia solely because of Ronaldo, then in the summer more than a dozen stars of various sizes moved there.
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In addition to Ronaldo, there is another Ballon d’Or winner on the peninsula. And also, no less important, players in the prime of their lives and coaches with rich European work experience came to this championship. All this significantly raises the level of football in Saudi Arabia. What club is capable of becoming champion?
Karim Benzema as part of the defending champion
Last season, Al-Ittihad became champions, breaking Al-Hilal’s hegemony. The Jeddah team battled for first place with Al-Nasr, so well that not even Ronaldo helped them. Nuno Espirito Santo built a very strong team, with the Tigres averaging two goals per game and having the best defense in the league.
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Already in June, the champion signed several promising rookies. First Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante, and then Fabinho and Joao Filipe. Al-Ittihad did not strengthen the defense, it was already in full order, but the attack will now be at the highest level.
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Abderrazak Hamdallah in the new season should enter the top five scorers in the history of the Saudi Arabian championship. He has 110 goals in 113 games. His duet with Karim Benzema could become one of the most powerful in the League. You can bet on Al-Ittihad’s victory in the championship for 2.80.
Help arrives for Ronaldo
Cristiano disappointed many at the end of last season, because not even in Saudi Arabia could he be champion. The Al-Nasr bosses did everything possible to correct this unfortunate situation. Seko Fofana, Marcelo Brozovic, Alex Telles and Sadio Mane will make the team much stronger.
The only thing that is a bit embarrassing is the defense, which last season often let Al-Nasr down in important games. It is unlikely that Telles alone will solve the problem. More hope for coach Luis Castro. The Portuguese coach knows how to put things in order in defense. He can bet on the victory of his team with a coefficient of 3.60.
One Malcolm won’t be enough
Al-Hilal couldn’t stomach third place last season after back-to-back league titles and decided to play big. It was Jorge Jesús’s team that made the most expensive transfer, signing Malcolm for 60 million euros, but this is just flowers, because Al-Hilal continues to negotiate for Mbappé and Neymar, and there the amounts will be much higher.
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In addition to Malcolm, it is worth mentioning the transition of Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves and Sergei Milinkovic-Savic. In total, for all these signings, including Malcolm’s, some 178 million euros were spent. But, Al-Hilal also has losses, in search of a star striker, the bosses abandoned Odion Ighalo, who was the top scorer of the team. You can bet on the victory of Al-Hilal in the championship with a coefficient of 4.00.
Everyone else has a much less chance of winning.
The rest of the clubs did not skimp either and signed the stars, but in general terms their line-ups are inferior to the three mentioned. Steven Gerrard took over at Al-Ittifaq and Jordan Henderson and Moussa Dembele transferred him to the club. Al-Ahly managed to gather Edouard Mendy, Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino and Allan Saint-Maximin.
Who will be the champion?
We believe that Al-Ittihad has a better chance. The experience of last season will have an effect, and the team will be able to win the championship for the second time in a row. She visibly strengthened. The club already has Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema. He started scoring goals from their debut matches in the Arab Champions Cup. With such reinforcement, the mountains are knee-deep.
Tender: victory for Al-Ittihad by 2.80.
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