Ittihad face Al-Ettifaq in Dammam without duo Lopy and Simic

The squad includes eight foreign professionals: Serbian Predrag Rajković, Portuguese Danilo Pereira, Algerian Houssem Aouar, Dutch Steven Bergwijn and Georginio Wijnaldum, Moroccan Youssef En-Nesyri, Nigerian George Elinikhina, and Colombian Richard Ríos.

Midfielder Ahmed Al-Ghamdi has returned to the squad after recovering from a muscle injury in his leg that kept him out of the match against Shabab Al-Ahli in the second round of the AFC Champions League last Monday.

Al-Ittihad enter the match against Al-Ettifaq looking to regain their balance after two consecutive defeats; the first was against Al-Hilal with a score of 2-3 in the league classic, and the second against Shabab Al-Ahli with a score of 1-2 in the AFC Champions League.

Al-Ittihad are currently fourth in the Saudi Pro League standings with 17 points, five points behind the leaders, and they have a postponed match against Shabab Al-Ahli that could affect their position in the competition.

Union coach Jens Wissing has excluded Senegalese Dion Lopy and Serbian Carlo Simic from the squad traveling to Dammam for the match against Al-Ettifaq in the 10th round of the Saudi Pro League.