Elite Joy League: Al-Hilal face their misery in Roshan, and the final repeats in the fourth round
The Joy Elite League, Saudi Arabia's Under-21 competition, returns with a fresh round of enticing fixtures as the fourth matchday gets under way.
Last August marked the kick-off of the league's second season. Twenty-four teams entered the fray. Some dream of the title, others of rubbing shoulders with the big names, and the rest simply want to avoid the drop to the regional league.
Round four fixtures of the Joy Elite League
The fourth round of the Roshn Saudi Pro League will have a different feel. For the first time this season, every match goes ahead without a single postponement, unlike the previous three rounds.
Sunday 13 September gets the round under way, with Al-Khaleej hosting Damac in Saihat and Al-Ettifaq meeting Al-Wehda in Dammam. Al-Riyadh face Al-Tadamon in the Saudi capital, which also stages Al-Nassr against Al-Feiha.
Over at the Education Department Stadium in Unaizah, Al-Najma welcome Al-Kholood. Al-Ahli host Al-Kholood in Jeddah, while Al-Hilal take on Neom in Riyadh.
Five matches fill the second day. Al-Taawoun open it with a trip to Al-Okhdood at the Damac Club Stadium in Khamis Mushait. Al-Fateh travel to face Al-Hazem in Al-Rass, and Al-Ansar meet Al-Jabalain in Medina.
Al-Jouf hosts Al-Orobah against Al-Faisaly. Then comes the pick of the round: a fiery top clash between Al-Ittihad and Al-Qadsiah at the former's stadium in Jeddah.
Al-Nassr: aiming for a comeback against Al-Feiha
Al-Nassr take on Al-Fayha desperate to shake off the dust of their shock 2-1 defeat to Al-Fateh in the previous round, a repeat of what happened in the quarter-finals of the last Roshn Saudi Pro League.
That surprise loss left Al-Nassr on 3 points from one win and one defeat, marooned in thirteenth place after two matches. Their third fixture against Al-Watan in the first round was postponed.
Al-Fayha, meanwhile, face a third tough test of the season. They lost 3-1 to Al-Ahli in the opening round, then went down by the same scoreline to defending champions Al-Hazem last time out. Their only bright spot has been a 2-0 win over newly promoted Al-Ansar.
Those poor results have dumped Al-Fayha into sixteenth with just 3 points, a return unbecoming of a side that reached the quarter-final play-off last season.
Al-Ahly begins the journey home
Al-Ahli's fixture the same day looks straightforward on paper, a meeting with newly promoted Al-Watan, but a few factors make it trickier than it seems.
Al-Watan arrive for their first outing in the Joy Elite League. Their previous three fixtures, against Al-Nassr, Al-Hazm and Al-Ansar, were all postponed. That leaves Al-Ahli facing an opponent they know nothing about.
Complicating matters further, Al-Ahli must do without goalkeeper Salman Al-Jadaani. He was sent off in the last match against Al-Jabalain for a strong tackle in the 61st minute.
That fatal mistake cost Al-Ahli two goals in less than half an hour and dragged them into a 2-2 draw with Al-Jabalain. It was their first stumble of the season, and it heaps extra pressure on the trip to face Al-Watan.
Rather than fighting Al-Taawoun for top spot, Al-Ahli have slipped to third in the Joy Elite League on 7 points, taken from two wins and a single draw. Nothing but a victory will do if they want to climb back to the summit.
Al-Hilal face their nightmare in the Roshan League
Al-Hilal, meanwhile, face a tricky test as they host NEOM in a repeat of the fixture that handed the first team their first defeat of the Roshn League season, a 2-0 loss last Monday.
Two ghosts haunt this one. Beyond the fear of echoing the first team's collapse, there is the memory of the under-21 side's own slip, a 2-1 defeat to Al-Taawoun in the last round of the Jawwy Elite League.
That result, Al-Hilal's first loss of the current Saudi Under-21 League campaign, froze their tally at six points and left them seventh in the standings.
NEOM arrive in far calmer waters. Their fixture against Al-Akhdoud in the previous round was postponed, so they have not kicked a ball in almost two weeks.
Across the opening two rounds, NEOM beat Al-Orobah before slipping to a draw with Al-Najma. That leaves them tenth with four points from two matches.
Al-Taawoun: an easy task to stay on top
Al-Taawoun, top of the table, should have little trouble protecting that lead when they travel to face Al-Akhdood.
A 2-1 win over Al-Hilal in the last round sent them to the summit with a perfect record: 9 points from 3 games, not a slip in sight.
Now they will be desperate to avoid an upset against Al-Akhdood, who sit twenty-first without a single point.
Al-Akhdood have played just one match in the Roshn Saudi League, a 3-0 defeat to Al-Faisaly in the second round. Their fixtures against Al-Khaleej and Neom, in the first and third rounds respectively, were postponed.
Al-Hazm and Al-Fateh: an elite Joy League final repeated
Al-Fateh's dominance over Al-Nassr rolled on last round, a third win across two seasons of the Joy Elite League. Now comes a chance for revenge against the side that denied them the title last season: Al-Hazem.
Barely four months have passed since the two last met. That was the final of the previous edition of the Joy Elite League, and Al-Hazem settled it 3-1.
Both sides arrive full of confidence. Al-Fateh beat Al-Nassr 2-1 last round, while Al-Hazem claimed their first win of the season, seeing off Al-Feiha by the same 3-1 scoreline.
In the standings, Al-Fateh sit fifth on 6 points, the product of two wins and a single defeat, that loss coming against Al-Ahli in the second round.
Al-Hazem, by contrast, languish in fourteenth on 3 points. Those came from the victory over Al-Feiha last round. They lost to Al-Jabalain in the first round, and their second-round meeting with Al-Watan was postponed.
Al-Ittihad and Al-Qadsiah: the standout clash of round four
The finale will be the top match of the fourth round of the Roshn Saudi League, when Al-Ittihad face Al-Qadsiah in a battle for the summit of the competition.
Al-Ittihad sit second with 7 points. A goalless draw with Damac in the opening round was followed by two straight wins, the latest a 4-1 thrashing of Al-Wehda last time out.
Al-Qadsiah, meanwhile, arrive buoyed by their 4-2 win over then-leaders Al-Ettifaq in the last round, and now they face another eagerly awaited top clash against Al-Ittihad.
That victory over Al-Ettifaq lifted Al-Qadsiah to 6 points and sixth place, built on two wins and a single defeat. Beat Al-Ittihad and they could climb into the golden square on merit.
Notable statistics
The opening three rounds of the Roshn Saudi Pro League produced 31 matches, 26 of them wins. Just five ended level, including a goalless stalemate between Al-Ittihad and Damac on the opening weekend.
Those 31 matches yielded 97 goals. That's more than three per game, a remarkably high return.
Al-Ettifaq boast the league's sharpest attack after three rounds, racking up 14 goals. Al-Ittihad, Al-Taawoun and Neom head the defensive charts among the sides that have played, conceding just one apiece.
Al-Tadhamon sit at the other end, shipping 14 goals in three games. Three teams have yet to find the net at all: Al-Okhdood, Al-Orobah and Al-Ansar, along with Al-Watan, who are yet to play.
Individually, Al-Ettifaq star Mohammed Al-Aissa leads the scoring charts after three rounds with six goals. Al-Ahli's Ziyad Aba and Al-Fateh striker En-Nesyri follow on four.
