Al-Riyadh vs Al-Ettifaq Prediction and Betting Tips | December 25th 2025

Al-Riyadh will host Al-Ettifaq at Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz Stadium on Thursday in another round of the 2025-26 Saudi Professional League campaign. The home side have endured a difficult campaign this season and will hope that their recent month-long hiatus has worked in their favor as they return to action this week.

Following a three-game unbeaten run in the league, Al-Riyadh travelled to Jeddah hoping to extend that streak against defending champions Al-Ittihad but ultimately suffered a 2-1 defeat. Trailing by two goals at the break, Al-Riyadh showed marked improvement after the restart, with Mamadou Sylla halving the deficit in the 77th minute, though they ultimately came away empty-handed.

Al-Ettifaq have been inconsistent this season and still have work to do if they are to finish closer to the continental qualification spots. They returned to winning ways last time out, albeit unconvincingly, edging past Al-Fayha 2-1 thanks to goals from Moussa Dembele and Georginio Wijnaldum, while also capitalising on their opponents’ profligacy to secure maximum points in front of their home supporters.

The visitors currently sit mid-table in ninth place with 12 points, but could climb as high as sixth with a win on Thursday.

Al-Riyadh vs Al-Ettifaq Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• The two teams have met 25 times, with Al-Riyadh winning eight matches and Al-Ettifaq claiming nine victories, while the remaining eight encounters ended in draws.
• The visitors are undefeated in their last three games in this fixture.
• The hosts have failed to score any goals in their last three games in this fixture.
• Al-Riyadh have conceded 19 goals in the Saudi Pro League this season. Only Al-Najma (20) and Al-Fateh (21) have shipped more.
• Al-Ettifaq are without a clean sheet in their last eight games across all competitions.

Al-Riyadh vs Al-Ettifaq Betting Tips

Al-Riyadh head into the midweek clash on a four-game winless streak and have won just one of their last six across all competitions. However, they have collected seven of their eight points this season at home and will be confident of a positive result on Thursday.

Faris Ad-Dahna snapped a four-game winless run with their latest result and will be hoping to build on that momentum this week. They are the stronger side on paper, but have struggled on the road all season and may have to settle for a point on Thursday.

Prediction: Al-Riyadh 1-1 Al-Ettifaq

Al-Riyadh vs Al-Ettifaq Betting Tips

Tip 1 - Result: Draw

Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Each of the last six matches between the two teams have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)

Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES

Edited by Peter P