By Abdullah Al-Janoubi · Tuesday 27 October 2026
Two of the three promoted clubs meet in Abha at 15:40 Riyadh time, in the league match that was called off earlier this month. Abha are bottom without a win. Al Faisaly have won once. Later on, NEOM play in Oman and Al Hilal visit Al Shamal in Qatar.
Fixtures and kickoff times (Riyadh time)
| Kickoff (AST) | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 15:40 | Abha vs Al Faisaly (Roshn Saudi League, postponed Matchweek 8) | Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium, Abha |
| Tue 17:45 | Al Shabab (Oman) vs NEOM (Gulf Club Champions League, Group A) | Rustaq Sports Complex, Oman |
| Tue 21:15 | Al Shamal vs Al Hilal (AFC Champions League Elite, West, Matchday 3) | Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor |
Times from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation's official calendar, checked Tue 27 Oct, 09:00 AST. Riyadh is three hours ahead of GMT, so Abha vs Al Faisaly is 12:40 GMT, NEOM's game is 14:45 GMT and Al Hilal kick off at 18:15 GMT. One Saudi newspaper printed a later time for the NEOM match, so check it again before kickoff. Convert to your own time with our match kickoff time converter.
Key points
- Abha are 18th with 2 points from 9 games: no wins, two draws, seven defeats, 6 goals scored and 17 conceded.
- Al Faisaly are 15th with 7 points from 10 games, and they lost 3-1 at home to Al Nassr on Friday.
- The game was first set for 11 October. The league moved it after Al Faisaly's squad couldn't get a flight into Abha in time.
- Al Hilal have 6 points from 2 games in the ACL Elite, and Simone Inzaghi has confirmed that Rúben Neves, Gabriel Martinelli, Crysencio Summerville and Mohamed Mahzari will miss the trip.
- NEOM lead their Gulf Club Champions League group after beating Shaab Hadramaut 4-0 in the first round.
Featured matches
Abha vs Al Faisaly Tue 15:40 AST · Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium
This was supposed to be played on 11 October. Sabq, citing Al Riyadiya, reported that Al Faisaly's travelling party couldn't reach Abha the day before because of flight problems, and the league announced the postponement soon after. So two of the clubs who came up together from the First Division (Diriyah were the third) finally meet on a Tuesday afternoon.
Abha's problem is easy to describe and hard to fix. They take shots but don't score. The league's own review of the promoted sides found Abha had 60 attempts in their first seven games, close to Al Kholood's 62, yet scored five goals to Al Kholood's twelve. Coach Damir Burić, kept on after promotion, has said his team played better than their results suggested and that finishing was the missing piece. Okaz lists Abha's six league goals as the lowest total in the division.
Saturday didn't change the picture. Abha lost 2-0 at NEOM in Tabuk, with Saïd Benrahma scoring after 15 minutes and Alexandre Lacazette adding a second five minutes after the break. BBC Sport's match data had NEOM on 13 shots to Abha's 6, and only two of Abha's were on target. Michy Batshuayi, the best-known name in the squad, has one league goal so far, against Al Fayha. Abha's best result of the season is still the 0-0 with Diriyah before the international break.
Al Faisaly went their first seven games without a win, but four of those came against sides now in the top six: Al Hilal, Al Qadsiah, NEOM and Al Ittihad. They then beat Al Kholood and drew with Al Shabab. Friday's 3-1 home defeat to Al Nassr in Majmaah was closer than the score for a while. Nassr scored after four minutes and again early in the second half, Bongonda pulled one back on 66 minutes from a Shanqiti assist, and Nassr only settled it with 11 minutes left. Giovanni Solinas is in his fourth spell in charge, a link that goes back to 2013, and the league singles out Alexandre Mendy, with a goal and an assist in the first seven rounds, as a player to watch.
The last meeting between these two was a 2-2 draw in Abha in the First Division on 11 September 2025, according to Al Faisaly's own match records. We haven't found two independent sources agreeing on today's absentees for either side, so we're not listing injuries here.
Our read: Al Faisaly have the better numbers, with five more goals than Abha and a win already on the board. Abha have conceded 17 in nine and will need to turn some of those shots into goals. Home advantage counts for something in Abha, but we lean slightly toward the visitors, with a draw the next most likely outcome.
Also on today for Saudi fans
Al Shamal vs Al Hilal Tue 21:15 AST · Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
Al Hilal have won both of their West group games so far, 2-1 against Al Gharafa and 2-0 away at Al Sadd, and they arrive in Qatar on five straight wins in all competitions. The latest was a 3-2 win at Al Qadsiah on Friday that put them top of the Roshn Saudi League (we previewed that game in our Al Qadsiah vs Al Hilal top-two clash). That run has cost them players, though. Speaking at Al Bayt on Monday, Inzaghi confirmed Rúben Neves, Gabriel Martinelli, Crysencio Summerville and Mohamed Mahzari will sit this one out, and said the medical staff would decide on Sergej Milinković-Savić after training. YSscores also reported that he wants to protect players with a congested run of fixtures coming, Al Fateh at home among them. Neves has two goals and an assist in this competition, according to Derbista, so his absence is a real loss.
Al Shamal, coached by Pedro Rebocho, have drawn both of their continental games, 1-1 with Al Ittihad and 0-0 with Tractor. Their domestic form is weaker. Riyadaty lists a 4-0 loss to Al Duhail and a 3-2 home defeat to Qatar SC among their last five. Inzaghi called them organised and well coached, and he wasn't wrong about the results against Ittihad and Tractor.
Our read: Even without four regulars, Al Hilal's bench is deeper than most first elevens in this group. Al Shamal haven't lost in Asia yet, though, and they've kept games tight. A narrow Hilal win looks the most likely result, but a slow start could make it nervy.
Al Shabab (Oman) vs NEOM Tue 17:45 AST · Rustaq Sports Complex
NEOM opened Group A of the Gulf Club Champions League with a 4-0 win over Yemen's Shaab Hadramaut, and they come in off Saturday's 2-0 league win against Abha. Al Shabab, coached by Eelco Schattorie, lost 3-0 to Al Duhail in round one but sit second in the Omani league on 12 points, according to Oman Daily. The club has made entry free for fans. The top two in each group go through to the quarter-finals, along with the two best third-placed teams.
Our read: NEOM are sixth in the Saudi table and the stronger side on paper. A second straight win would put them in a very good spot for the knockouts.
What's at stake in the table
Abha vs Al Faisaly is the only Roshn Saudi League game today. Near the bottom, Al Fateh are 16th on 6 points and Al Taawoun 17th on 4. An Abha win would take them to 5, which is enough to climb above Al Taawoun and off the bottom. If Al Faisaly win, they go to 10 points, level with Al Hazem in 13th, and climb at least one place, Okaz says. At the other end, Al Hilal lead on 27 points from 10 games, ahead of Al Nassr and Al Qadsiah on 25, so tonight's trip to Qatar is about Asia, not the league. Looking further ahead, the federation has set the King's Cup round of 16 for 30 November and 1 December, with Al Hilal vs Al Hazem at Kingdom Arena among the ties, Goal reports. Follow every result on our live scores and fixtures page, or catch up on Sunday's games in our 25 October matchday preview.
Our reads are editorial opinions based on the data above, not predictions to bet on. WorldScope does not promote gambling.
Sources
- Saudi Pro League: Abha vs Al Faisaly postponed and how the promoted clubs have settled in
- SAFF: official match calendar, 27 October and Roshn Saudi League table
- Saudi Press Agency: Abha vs Al Faisaly
- Okaz: Abha vs Al Faisaly preview and NEOM in the Gulf Club Champions League
- Sabq: why the match was postponed
- BBC Sport: NEOM 2-0 Abha and Al Faisaly 1-3 Al Nassr
- Transfermarkt: NEOM vs Abha match report
- Al Faisaly FC: Abha vs Al Faisaly fixture and history
- Al Hilal FC: Inzaghi and Al-Hawsawi before Al Shamal
- YSscores: Inzaghi on Neves and Milinković-Savić
- AFC: Al Shamal vs Al Hilal preview
- Riyadaty: Al Hilal face Al Shamal and Derbista match page
- Gulf Football Federation: round 2 preview
- Oman Daily: Al Shabab vs NEOM and Koralive match page
- Goal: King's Cup and Super Cup dates and SAFF calendar, 30 November
Follow WorldScope on X for live updates: @worldscope_now
Comments