Casteels, Rodak enter Eastern Derby with Golden Glove still up for grabs | OneFootball

This season’s second Eastern Derby will be fascinating for a whole host of reasons.

First, there's the element of Al Qadsiah looking to keep in touch in the Roshn Saudi League title hunt, for which they need maximum points to maintain pressure on the three teams above them.

Heading into the closing gameday of Matchweek 27, Al Qadsiah are fourth, five points off second place and 10 back from leaders Al Nassr.

Then there's Julian Quinones and his battle with Ivan Toney and Cristiano Ronaldo for the 2025-26 golden boot. At present, he is joint-second with holder Ronaldo, both three back from Toney.

Looking at the derby, the mighty Mexican has an individual head-to-head with Georginio Wijnaldum; as the standout player and highest scorer for Al Ettifaq, the latter represents Quinones’ counterpart at Al Qadsiah’s fierce East Coast foes.

There’s also, of course, local bragging rights in a fixture that Al Qadsiah haven’t lost since 2020. Sunday at EGO Stadium in Dammam offers the opportunity for visitors to do the double; little more than one month ago, in the rescheduled Matchweek 10 fixture, Brendan Rodgers’ men put four past Saad Al Shehri’s side.

And then there’s one element that may go slightly more under the radar, even if it supplies an interesting subplot to the clash, but also the remainder of the RSL season. That, intriguingly, is the battle of the goalkeepers: Koen Casteels, for Al Qadsiah, and Marek Rodak, at Al Ettifaq.

Both are still in the running for this year’s Golden Glove, the prize awarded to the goalkeeper who keeps the most clean sheets in a RSL season. The pair have registered seven so far, behind Al Ahli’s Edouard Mendy (12), Al Nassr’s Bento (10) and Al Hilal’s Yassine Bono (nine).

For Casteels, the Belgian is looking to defend the award he collected last term when he registered an unparalleled 14 clean sheets.

And, while with Rodgers Al Qadsiah have been a little more open at the back, conceding the most goals of any of the top four sides (16), the payoff has been at the other end. During the attack-minded Northern Irishman’s short time there, they have scored more than any other team in the league (46).

But, certainly, Rodgers would like to tighten up at the back, with Casteels and Al Qadsiah registering a solitary clean sheet in their past five RSL fixtures. Most probably, that grates for a side that had the best defensive record in the league last season.

So, where better to improve that record than against your provincial rivals?

For sure, if Al Qadsiah can get a few more shutouts across the final eight rounds, it boosts their chances of sustaining their late title charge. Clearly, the form of Casteels - and his defence in front of him - will be crucial.

Rodak, meanwhile, is in some ways the form goalkeeper in the RSL, which sounds counterintuitive for a player who has conceded 44 goals this season.

But, just as clean sheets aren’t entirely the result of a goalkeeper’s endeavour alone, the same is true of goals conceded. It’s the team's defensive unit that is responsible for both.

So, while Rodak might have conceded all those goals, he has also made more saves this campaign than any other of the league’s custodians, at 96. However, it’s no one off: the Slovakia international ranked second in that category last season, as well.

Typically, it tends to be goalkeepers from clubs at the bottom of the league that feature highest in this category, because they are usually the teams giving up the most chances.

Rodak, though, somewhat bucks that trend, with Al Ettifaq sitting seventh heading into the season’s final stretch. Thanks in large part to their man between the sticks, they hold aspirations of breaking into the top five come season's end.

To reinforce the point, clean-sheet leader Mendy comes in at 17th for saves, with 33. It’s little more than one per game, and almost 70 fewer than Rodak has made through 2025-26 with the latter still to play this round.

With Al Ettifaq facing 139 shots on target, Rodak's save percentage of almost 70 percent constitutes one of the best in the division, on par with Casteels (58 saves from 84 shots faced, at 69%).

But, like their eastern neighbours, if Al Ettifaq are to deliver on their late-season ambitions, they will need Rodak to continue to play his part. Averaging 3.7 saves per match, he must not slip in standards.

Yet, for 90-plus minutes on Sunday, all the stats and potential individual accolades will be placed to one side. Any personal objectives must be put on hold.