Al Ahli v Al Hilal: How wing battle is central to deciding crunch clash | OneFootball

There is so much to look forward to in this week’s heavyweight clash between Al Ahli and Al Hilal.

After respective draws last time out, against Al Ettifaq and Al Qadsiah, both will be keen to get back into the winners’ circle to push their claims for silverware this season.

And, in Darwin Nunez and Ivan Toney, both also feature elite-level striking talent capable of turning the game in a moment.

But there’s another battle, between some of the league’s best defensive talent and their attacking counterparts, that shapes as one of the most decisive of the fixture.

Al Hilal’s attacking full-backs, Joao Cancelo and Theo Hernandez, will go head-to-head against Al Ahli’s pair of dynamic wingers, Riyad Mahrez and Galeno, in what is sure to be a mouthwatering personal clash.

Each confrontation on its own is worth the price of admission, but put them together - Mahrez versus Hernandez on the attacking right, and Galeno versus Cancelo on the opposite side - and it’s absolute box-office gold.

While, principally, it is winger against full-back, so offensive are Al Hilal’s French and Portuguese defenders that they almost play as attacking widemen on the pitch. Certainly, that plays out with a cursory glance at their respective early 2025-26 RSL statistics.

A high-profile summer signing, Theo Hernandez has settled instantly at Al Hilal

French international Hernandez, one of the Roshn Saudi League’s headline signings of the summer - he arrived following six seasons with AC Milan - made his debut for Al Hilal in their thrilling 2-2 draw with Al Qadsiah last weekend.

However, his numbers after a solitary appearance almost match the output of Mahrez after two.

And that’s not a knock on Al Ahli’s dazzling winger, who has consistently been one of the league’s best attacking talents since landing in the Kingdom more than two years ago. It simply highlights the influence of the full-backs on Al Hilal manager Simone Inzaghi’s 4-1-4-1 system.

After that single match in blue, Hernandez has created as many big chances (one), had almost as many passes (47 to 52) and also two shot assists compared to four for Mahrez.

It’s a similar story when assessing the other side of the pitch, where Cancelo will defend on Al Hilal’s right and Galeno attacks on Al Ahli’s left.

Each player has featured in the 2025-26 RSL’s opening two rounds, with both registering four shots. Yet, elsewhere in the attacking stats, it is Cancelo, notionally the more defensive player, who has the edge.

The Portugal international, a star for his country during this month's FIFA World Cup qualifiers, has created two big chances to Galeno’s none, while he’s completed 106 passes to 26, had four shot assists to zero, and 161 ball contacts compared to 57. He has also drawn five fouls to Galeno’s one.

If you didn’t know any better, and purely looked at the stats of both rival duos, you would swear the roles were reversed: that the Al Ahli pair were the defensive players, and Cancelo and Hernandez their team’s attacking threats.

Clearly, it underlines the importance of the full-backs at Al Hilal in the functioning of Inzaghi’s attack, and means Mahrez and Galeno will need to be mindful on Friday night of their own defensive duties to nullify their opponents' impact on the clash in Jeddah.

The last time these two sides met, in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite in May, it was Al Ahli who prevailed 3-1 on a famous night for the white-and-green.

But importantly, not only was Hernandez not at Al Hilal back then, Cancelo was injured for that game when Mahrez and Galeno ran riot.

The inclusion of both in this marquee Matchweek 3 encounter, back on the Red Sea, increases significantly the degree of difficulty in such an important early season duel.

Even at this embryonic stage of the campaign, neither club – Al Hilal were runners-up in the RSL last term, while Al Ahli were fifth – can afford to cede any ground to their title rivals.

As mentioned, in the case of Cancelo, not only has he been flying domestically, the same rings true for the Portugal national team.

In their recent pair of qualifiers, against Hungary and Armenia, he registered a goal and an assist in both games in successive standout performances. And, remember, that’s in a side spearheaded by Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Felix.

It’s what makes this Friday’s match such a salivating prospect; even with serious talent all round, there’s four world-class combatants on the wings going head-to-head for two of the RSL’s biggest clubs. Patently, it doesn’t get much better than that.