Preview: Al Fayha vs Al-Hilal - prediction, team news, lineups

Needing a win to have a chance at claiming the Saudi Pro League title, Al-Hilal will travel to King Salman Sports City Stadium for a date with Al Fayha on Thursday.

With one match remaining, Al-Za’eem sit second, two points below Al-Nassr, having beaten Neom 2-0 last weekend, with Al Fayha in 10th, after a 3-0 defeat at Damac.

Match preview

On the final matchday of the 2025-26 season, Al Fayha will seek to play the role of spoilers while also hoping to earn a place in the top half of the table.

To get there, this team must win and hope for an Al-Hazem defeat if they are to finish in ninth, as they boast a vastly inferior goal difference to the latter.

Pedro Emanuel’s men have claimed just one victory in their last seven Saudi Pro League encounters since the start of April, defeating Al-Riyadh at home in early May.

That said, they have points in three of their last four domestic affairs on home soil, with five of their seven league triumphs this year taking place in Al-Majma'ah.

Over their last eight matches in this competition, Al Fayha have netted a goal or fewer seven times, failing to score on three of those occasions.

Not since a 1-0 triumph at Al-Wehda in May 2023 have they won their final match of a Saudi Pro League season, with this team losing those previous two such outings.

There is no room for error at Al-Hilal on Thursday, as they must win and hope Al-Nassr slip up if they are to claim a second league title in three seasons.

Seeing as Al-Nassr have three more goals than them, Simone Inzaghi’s men will likely have to go into an aggressive mindset to try and forge ahead.

In 2026, this team have yet to lose a domestic away game but have dropped points on four of those occasions thus far.

Al-Hilal have not won their final away contest in the Saudi top-flight since May 2024 (2-1 at Al-Wehda) but have not lost that last league outing this decade.

Their previous two away encounters in this competition saw them concede first but avoid defeat, netting an equaliser at the bitter end versus Al-Nassr to keep the race for the title in the balance.

The Riyadh-based club have won their last four domestic matches against Al Fayha, blanking them 2-0 in this exact fixture last season.

Al Fayha Saudi Pro League form:

Al-Hilal Saudi Pro League form:

Al-Hilal form (all competitions):

Team News

From matchday 32 to 33, Al Fayha made several changes to their starting 11, including Orlando Mosquera returning between the sticks, with Sabri Dahal and Jason also drawing into the fold.

Fashion Sakala will seek to return to the lineup on Thursday with the Zambian leading the team with 13 goals in the competition this season.

At Al-Hilal, Kalidou Koulibaly is doubtful for this one due to a leg issue, as is Hamad Al-Yami because of a knee injury.

Ruben Neves put his team in front after just nine minutes on Saturday, Sultan Mandash scored an insurance marker in the second half and Yassine Bounou made two stops for his 13th clean sheet of the campaign.

Al Fayha possible starting lineup:

Mosquera; Bamsaud, Al-Rashidi, Smalling, Villaneuva, Dahal; Semedo, Kaabi, Benzia; Sakala, Jason

Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:

Bounou; Al-Harbi, Neves, Al-Tambakti, Hernandez; Mandash, Milinkovic-Savic, Bouabre, Al Dawsari; Malcom, Leonardo

We say: Al Fayha 0-1 Al-Hilal

Al-Hilal are the superior of the two and will likely need a big scoreline to get ahead, and their experience and firepower should be more than enough to at least claim a victory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.