Saudi Clasico: How Kante v Neves is crucial to deciding mega title match-up | OneFootball

Al Ittihad have lost only twice this season, once a surprise 2-1 defeat at the hands of Damac, and the other to fierce rivals Al Hilal.

In last September’s match at Al Hilal, Laurent Blanc’s still-nascent side were blown out of the water early, the scoreline reading 3-0 to the home side with little more than 30 minutes on the clock.

It was as dominant a display as you’re likely to see in a Saudi Clasico, with Blanc declaring afterwards that the game was over within the opening 10 minutes.

At the heart of it all was Al Hilal’s Rolls Royce, Ruben Neves, who put in a performance to remember as he collected Man-of-the-Match honours. In the battle of the midfield marvels, between himself and Al Ittihad’s N’Golo Kante, the Portuguese star came out on top.

Two assists, four chances created, 10 passes into the final third, two clearances, five recoveries and a 96 percent passing accuracy is about as good as it gets from a central midfielder.

Now, in the corresponding Clasico set to unfold this Saturday, once again it feels that midfield supremacy will be crucial to deciding the fate of this most consequential clash between Al Ittihad and Al Hilal.

With Al Hilal second to Al Ittihad in the 2024-25 Roshn Saudi League and therefore assuming the role of hunter, rather than the hunted, the dynamics of the game have changed.

With a four-point lead at the summit, Al Ittihad have the chance to open a seven-point lead on their rivals, increasingly considerably their chances of a second top-flight title in three years.

Conversely, victory for Al Hilal could strike a psychological blow to Al Ittihad, who haven’t beaten their Riyadh opponents in the RSL since April 2021 – a run stretching seven matches. Tellingly, it would bring them back within one point of the Jeddah club.

How that changes the mindset of the players will be fascinating, and let’s not forget Al Ittihad have already beaten Al Hilal this season: last month, in the King’s Cup quarter-finals, they triumphed on penalties to eliminate the current holders.

Thus, once more the midfield battleground, governed principally by Neves and Kante, will most probably be pivotal to deciding the outcome of a Clasico - and perhaps the title race overall.

The two former English Premier League representatives share the same area of the pitch, but they perform very different roles for their respective teams.

Although notionally both central midfielders, Neves is the more attacking of the two, borne out by his five assists and 29 chances created - seven of those attributed as “big chances” – in the RSL this season.

The Portuguese playmaker’s ability to cross the ball in from wide areas makes him particularly threatening, especially on Saturday if Aleksandar Mitrovic is declared fit to return.

By contrast, Kante has a solitary assist this season, and almost half of the chances created, at 15. But his remit isn’t to create attacks, it’s to deny them.

The FIFA World Cup winner is a midfield general. An enforcer, his irrepressible play racks up the kilometres patrolling the zones and cutting off the passing lanes. In doing so, he denies the opposition the opportunity a clear route to the Al Ittihad defence.

The French international, coming off the back of a sensational 2024 UEFA European Championships for his national team, ranks seventh in the league this season for average intercepts per 90 minutes (2.3), but No.1 overall for total intercepts at 41.

Again, this contrasts to the style of Neves, who has 12 intercepts for the campaign, explained predominantly in that he takes up more advanced positions.

The opposing midfielders both love playing on the ball, though, with Kante ranked third (1374) and Neves eighth (1161) for passes across the league, with similar rankings for ball contacts - Kante, third (1660) and Neves, 12th (1357).

Patently, they are the heartbeats of their team, and while there are others that take the headlines, the overall machine wouldn’t function as well without their purring engines.

Given the differing nature in style, it means Kante and Neves are likely to come directly head-to-head throughout the season’s second Clasico, which is a tantalising prospect for those watching on to see two of best at their particular craft going up against one another.

In a contest with such high stakes.

However, the marquee match-up is also about more than these two combatants, with two equally important players playing alongside the respective duo on either side.

Neves has the silky Sergej Milinkovic-Savic for company, while former Liverpool star Fabinho works perfectly in tandem with Kante. The twin sets combine to form two of the most dynamic midfields the Saudi top flight has witnessed.

Much has changed since the two teams first met back in September, in Matchweek 4 when Al Hilal emerged 3-1 victors to claim top spot. On Saturday, in the return encounter, we’ll find out just how much.

What did Blanc learn from that first outing when, in his own words, Al Ittihad were blown away in the opening salvos? On the other side, what did Jorge Jesus glean from Al Hilal’s recent defeat in the King’s Cup?The tacticians are two of the wiliest in the RSL, with long histories of success in Europe.

In fact, they have history prior to their current roles. When Blanc was at PSG and Jesus at Benfica, they met in the group stages of the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League, and while Blanc’s PSG won the first tie 3-0 at home, Jesus got revenge in the second with a 2-1 win.

The setting for the renewal of their rivalry may have moved some way east, but the desire to succeed surely still burns bright.

With front-row seats to Neves superior showing in September, how will Blanc deploy his troops to nullify the former Wolverhampton Wanderers star’s influence this time around?

For Jesus and Al Hilal, with only one win in their past four in the league - a mini crisis for a club so accustomed to success - can they find a way out of their current funk?

How will they stop Karim Benzema, who has seven goals and six assists in his past 10 RSL outings, and whom was the deciding factor in Al Ittihad’s recent King’s Cup triumph?

There are fascinating subplots, questions and tactical tussles wherever you look. Fortunately, for fans of this already gripping RSL, it makes this one of the most anticipated Saudi Clasico’s in recent memory.