Al-Hilal ‘to be without five’ for Al-Gharafa opener | OneFootball

Al-Hilal face Qatar's Al-Gharafa in their AFC Champions League Elite group opener at Kingdom Arena with five key players missing. The absences cloud plans for a fast start to their continental campaign.

Al-Maidan Al-Riyadi reports that Theo Hernandez, Ali Lajami, Hamad Al-Yami, Salem Al-Dawsari and Ollie Watkins will sit out the clash.

Watkins suffered an injury in recent training, ruling the England forward out of domestic and continental fixtures, with no timeline yet set for his return.

Captain Salem Al-Dawsari is also out, with the back line further hit by three defensive absences.

Even so, Al-Hilal's staff want to overcome the disruption and secure victory in the opener.

The Al-Gharafa meeting will gauge squad depth under pressure, and the visitors carry ambitions of an upset in Riyadh.

Source: Goal.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”