A first appearance in Roshn: Inzaghi surprises Al-Ittihad with a replacement for Savic

Who will replace the Serbian midfielder?

Simone Inzaghi has made his call. The Al-Hilal boss has settled on the man to fill the void left by Serbian star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic for the Clasico against Al-Ittihad.

Al-Hilal welcome their rivals to the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh today, Saturday, in the eighth round of the Roshn League.

Savic misses out through the injury he picked up on international duty with Serbia during the last break, while captain Salem Al-Dawsari is also unavailable.

According to Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah, Inzaghi has decided to hand Frenchman Simon Bouabre a start in midfield to cover for Savic.

The Italian wants a player comfortable in attacking midfield roles, and that pushed him towards Bouabre as the ideal fix for the Serbian's absence.

It's a curious pick. The young Frenchman has not even made Al-Hilal's squad in the team's last seven Roshn League matches this season.

Bouabre has managed just one appearance all season, in the 2-1 win over Qatar's Al-Gharafa last September in the AFC Champions League Elite, when he came off in the 66th minute.

All told, the 20-year-old has featured in only 12 matches for Al-Hilal since arriving last January, starting four of them and coming off the bench in the other eight, without a single goal or assist to his name.