Stat Attack: Must-see facts and figures from season so far | OneFootball

Only four matchweeks into the 2025-26 Roshn Saudi League and there's been plenty to shout about.

Al Nassr are perched at the summit with a 100 percent record, champions Al Ittihad have let go title-winning manager Laurent Blanc, and the likes of NEOM Sports Club have taken seamlessly to the top flight in their historic debut campaign.

Now, though, we've the opportunity to catch breath as the RSL pauses for the latest international break. That doesn't mean we're taking a break, however. Rather, we've delved into the Opta statistics to bring you some of the highlight numbers from the season so far.

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Shooting for the stars

Two-time RSL golden boot winner Cristiano Ronaldo has taken the most shots in the 2025-26 RSL, with 28 across his four appearances.

The next highest is Al Nassr and Portugal teammate Joao Felix, with 17. In fact, Al Nassr take up the top three slots, with Kingsley Coman completing the trio having taken 14 shots. The summer signing from Bayern Munich sits joint third alongside Al Qadsiah pair Julian Quinones and Mateo Retegui.

Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates goal at Al Ittihad

Much to his credit, Felix is currently riding highest in the goalscoring charts, netting a hat-trick on debut at Al Taawoun before adding two more goals since.

Then comes celebrated compatriot Ronaldo, whose goal in last Friday’s mammoth victory at Al Ittihad lifted him to four for the season – a third successive golden boot, anyone? – alongside Al Khaleej summer signing Joshua King.

After that, there's an incredible 10 players on three goals, including Al Ittihad’s Karim Benzema, Al Ahli’s Ivan Toney, Al Shabab’s Yannick Carrasco and, flying the Saudi Arabian flag high, Al Ettifaq’s Khalid Al Ghannam.

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Tales of the Expected?

Even though Al Nassr have found the net more times than any team this season - 14 goals - they sit second when it comes to Expected Goals (xG): i.e. the metric used to measure the quality of a chance by calculating the likelihood that it will be scored.

It is, in fact, Riyadh rivals Al Hilal that head this ranking, with an xG of 11.3. That said, they’ve scored only 10 times, meaning their differential (goals to xG) is minus-1.3. In contrast, Al Nassr’s xG is actually 10.9, so they've a rather healthy differential of 3.1.

The best differential to this point is 3.3, gleaned at both champions Al Ittihad and second-placed Al Qadsiah, while Al Fateh have the worse in the division, at minus-3.3 (three goals scored to an xG of 6.3).

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Creative sparks

Now that’s the goalscoring sorted, who are the playing laying it on for the fiercest forwards in the league?

Well, the man to create the most chances this campaign is Konstantinos Fortounis, the Al Khaleej midfielder topping the ranking with 15. Al Ahli’s Riyad Mahrez comes in second, with 13, while Coman and NEOM SC’s Said Benrahma have 12.

Three of Fortounis’ chances have led directly to goals, meaning the Greek international lies joint second in the assist charts, together with Al Hilal captain Salem Al Dawsari and Al Riyadh’s recent recruit Teddy Okou. Coman sits at the summit, with four assists from his 12 chances created.

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Pass masters

Would it come as a shock if we told you the guy who heads passing in the opposition half is Ruben Neves at Al Hilal? The Portugal international has for the past two seasons showcased his prowess in making the 2023-24 RSL champions tick.

This term, Neves has made a whopping 206 passes in the opposition half - almost 25% more than the next best, former Al Hilal teammate and now Al Qadsiah midfielder, Musab Al Juwayr. Neves’ success rate is a superb 89.8%, level with Al Nassr counterpart Marcelo Brozovic (147 passes).

However, it’s Al Ittihad counterpart Fabinho who’s the only player to better that: the Brazilian has completed 91% of his 122 passes this season.

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Safe pair of hands

Koen Casteels boasts the best save percentage of any goalkeeper who has faced five or more shots thus far, repelling 76.5% of 13 shots against him. Although should it really surprise given the Belgium national-team stopper is the RSL’s reigning Goalkeeper of the Year?

Casteels, though, hasn’t made the most saves. That distinction is shared between Al Kholood new boy Juan Pablo Cozzani and Al Okhdood’s fellow debutant Samuel Portugal, at 17 apiece.

Portugal, meanwhile, leads the league in "Big Chances" saved; his seven rank three better than the next best, by both Casteels and Al Ahli’s Edouard Mendy.

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Up for the fight

Of course, a goalkeeper would prefer to face as few shots as possible. For that, they need a competent defence in front, which often combines cohesion, positioning, determination and tenacity.

In terms of the latter, Al Fayha centre-back Chris Smalling tops the 2025-26 RSL for percentage of duels one, with 84.6% of his 13 being successful.

However, the actual number of duels contested is some way below the guy in second percentage-wise: Damac’s Valentin Vada, who has more than double, winning 79.3% of his 29 duels.

The player way out in front of duels faced, though, is Al Najmah’s Fahad Al Abdulrazzaq, who leads the way on 38. He is one of only three players with 30 or more.

Chris Smalling is bringing all his drive and determination to Al Fayha

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Curb that enthusiasm?

While Al Qadsiah and Al Kholood both proved last season that a promoted side can more than mix it in the top flight, sometimes a new boy will have to assert their authority in other ways to show they belong.

Take, for instance, Al Hazem, who have made more fouls this season than any other RSL side, at 60. That’s six more than the next team on the list, Al Taawoun.

Of those 60, Al Hazem have picked up nine yellow cards (and one second yellow, when Ahmed Al Nakhli was sent off in the Matchweek 2 defeat at Al Shabab). When it comes to cautions, though, Al Ettifaq reign supreme: they have 14 yellow cards from 50 fouls conceded.

At the other end of the scale, there’s Al Qadsiah who have conceded the fewest fouls together with Al Fateh (27). Yet the high-flying Al Khobar club have received only one yellow card in four rounds, which is pretty impressive.

We’ve had eight sending-offs in all so far - two of which were straight reds - where Al Okhdood are the unfortunate side to have contributed most, with two.