Damac set out in search of their first win of the season when they welcome Al Fateh to the Dhamak Club Stadium in round four of the Saudi Professional League on Tuesday.
Having failed to win both home and away meetings between the sides last season, the Abna Al Nakhil will head into this one looking to get one over the hosts.
Match preview
Damac failed to get their Professional League campaign off and running as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Al-Shabab when the sides met at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium last Friday.
Despite being on the back foot for most of the game, Georges-Kevin N'Koudou scored against the run of play to hand the visitors a 71st-minute lead before Fahad Al-Muwallad restored parity in the 89th minute.
Prior to that, Cosmin Contra's side suffered a 1-0 defeat to Al Tai in the league curtain-raiser on August 12, five days before overturning a two-goal deficit to salvage a 2-2 draw against Al Riyadh in their first home game of the season.
Damac have now failed to win any of their last five Professional League matches, losing twice and picking up three draws since beating Abba 1-0 on May 22 courtesy of Abdullah Al-Amar's second-half strike.
While the Knight of the South will be looking to end this dry spell, next up is an opposing side who are unbeaten in five of their last six meetings, claiming two wins and three draws since January 2021.
Al Fateh, on the other hand, were sent crashing back to earth last time out when they suffered a 5-0 hammering against a star-studded Al-Nassr side at the Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Stadium.
Cristiano Ronaldo turned in a clinic as he set up Sadio Mane's first-half opener and netted a hat-trick to inspire Luis Castro's men to their first win of the 2023-24 Professional League campaign.
This followed a 3-1 victory over Al Akhdood on August 18, when a brace from Cristian Tello and Mourad Batna's 36th-minute strike helped Al Fateh come from behind to pick up their first win of the season.
With four points from their opening three matches, Slaven Bilic's side are currently eighth in the Professional League standings, two points and five places above Tuesday's visitors.
Team News
Twenty-three-year-old Ahmed Harisi came off injured midway through Friday's draw with Al-Shabab and the Saudi Arabian forward is a major doubt for Damac.
In his absence, summer signing N'Koudou, who turned in an eye-catching cameo last time out, could be handed his first starting appearance since his move from Besiktas.
Al Fateh will once again have to cope without the services of 31-year-old defender Marwane Saadane, who has been out of action since May through a hernia.
Other than that, the Abna Al Nakhil head into Tuesday with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Bilic nearly a full-strength squad at his display.
Despite Friday's humbling result, we expect the Croatian tactician to name a similar starting side, with Firas Al-Buraikan, who has scored 15 goals across all competitions this year, spearheading the attack.
Damac possible starting lineup:
Zeghba; Al-Amar, Bedrane, Chafai, Faqihi; N'Koudou, Antolic, Maher, Majrashi; Ceesay, Al-Bishi
Al Fateh possible starting lineup:
Rinne; Alzubaidi, Al-Oujami, Denayer, Al Yousif; Bendebka, Petros; Batna, Zelarayan, Tello; Al-Buraikan
We say: Damac 2-1 Al Fateh
While Damac are yet to taste victory this season, they have shown resilience in their last two matches and we are backing them to edge out the visitors, who are still licking their wounds from last Friday's humiliating defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
