Photo: Wikimedia Commons (free licence), cropped and styled by SportNestra — author and licence
The postponement of three major fixtures has changed the shape of the Saudi Pro League’s ninth round. With several matches between leading teams removed from the schedule, the remaining games take on greater prominence, with most of their stakes centred on the middle and lower parts of the table.
The league has postponed Al-Riyadh–Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli–Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad–Al-Shabab for logistical reasons. All three matches will be played at later dates.
Al-Hilal is scheduled to play on December 19, the same day Al-Ittihad faces Al-Shabab. The Al-Nassr–Al-Ahli clash, meanwhile, is set for March 6 next year. The rearranged dates bring several of the round’s most anticipated fixtures together, while the other matches go ahead without the major teams involved in those postponed games.
That reshapes the focus of the round: for most of the other sides, the immediate contest is for positions in the middle and lower half of the table, rather than in head-to-head meetings between leading teams.
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