A curse that will not stop: injury rules Salem Al-Dawsari out of the Al-Hilal and Al-Fateh match

What is happening to the Tornado?

The injury curse keeps on haunting Salem Al-Dawsari. The Al-Hilal captain is sidelined again ahead of the eagerly awaited clash against Al-Fateh in the Saudi Roshn League.

Al-Hilal host Al-Fateh today, Saturday, at the Kingdom Arena in the Saudi capital Riyadh, in the twelfth round of the Roshn League.

Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah report that Salem Al-Dawsari will miss the match after the injury flared up again in recent hours.

According to the newspaper, "the Tornado" visited Al-Hilal's medical clinic after training ended yesterday, Friday, forcing Italian coach Simone Inzaghi to leave him out of the match squad.

It's the second time Al-Dawsari has been dropped from the Al-Hilal squad hours before kick-off. The same thing happened before the Clasico against Al-Ittihad in the Roshn League on 10 October this month.

Salem has featured in just 3 matches for Al-Hilal since the start of the season, only one of them as a starter, against Al-Shamal of Qatar last Tuesday. The other two came as a substitute in the closing minutes of Roshn League fixtures.

His absence leaves Al-Hilal a second man short in attack, following Brazilian winger Gabriel Martinelli, who picked up an injury during the 3-2 win over Al-Qadsiah last Friday in the Roshn League.

Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville comes back into the starting line-up to cover for both Martinelli and Al-Dawsari, having missed the last match against Al-Shamal through an Asian suspension.

Al-Hilal sit third in the Saudi League table on 27 points, a point behind Al-Qadsiah, who have played two more matches, and Al-Nassr, who have played one more.

Al-Fateh, by contrast, go into the match down in seventeenth with only 6 points from a single win and 3 draws. They have lost 7 times.