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experiencing defeat against Al-Ahli was indeed very surprising and it was a great shame for Ittihad not to be able to get points from that match, who knows what is wrong with Ittihad's current performance that makes it unstable when facing matches in the Saudi pro league.
When facing Al-Taawon of course it will not be easy for Ittihad to get points in that match because Al-Taawon is in good condition at the moment so Al-Taawon will try as hard as possible to face this match but this match will also be difficult to predict because Ittihad is also will try to appear impressive in this match or at least Ittihad will optimize the draw rather than accept defeat.
If I try to examine it based only on data and statistics. because, there is not much information that I can dig deeper into. At the start of the first season, Nuno Santo was quite confident in his team when playing match after match, he tended to apply a 4-2-3-1 pattern. However, recently, especially since Benzema was absent for several weeks when Al Ittihad played their matches. Nuno Santo tends to change his patterns and systems several times. However, in some matches, he tends to use a 3-5-2 pattern, more often 4-4-2. either because several players were injured, including Benzema, or there was a decline in performance in last season's trophy-winning squad.
In the match against Al-Ahli, Al Ittihad again used a 4-4-2 pattern. even though, in that match Benzema played again. There were many opportunities in that match, but Nuno Santo's team was unable to maximize them and convert them into goals. Plus, their defense line was a little slack which resulted in their carelessness allowing Kassie to stand freely and take advantage of his chance to score a goal. As a result, Al Ittihad lost for the second time in the 9 matches they played.
In the next few days, Al Ittihad will face an away match against Al Taawon. Even though Al Taawon is in 2nd place in the Saudi Pro League standings, they are theoretically not an equal opponent considering that Al Ittihad has several former top European players. However, Al Taawon is also filled with foreign players for their front line. Maybe that's why, now this team is quite strong when playing match after match. But no matter what, Al Ittihad is much stronger, as we can see from the betting odds. the home team with @4.70, while Al Ittihad with @1.63. So, now back to how Nuno Santo prepared his team to face this meeting. If Nuno Santo returns to his initial pattern and system, not 4-4-2 or 3-5-2, I'm sure Al Ittihad will win this match.