Smiling assassin Sakala fronting Al Fayha's foray up RSL table | OneFootball

You could say Fashion Sakala is leaving his goalscoring run this season, erm, fashionably late.

Bad jokes aside, the Zambia international has been on a hot run of form recently, scoring nine of his 11 Roshn Saudi League goals in his past 12 games.

That’s more than two-time golden-boot winner Cristiano Ronaldo, 2024-25 Serie A top-scorer Mateo Retegui and former Arsenal and Olympique Marseille forward Alexandre Lacazette in the same period. It ranks equal to Al Hilal superstar Karim Benzema.

Sakala might have one of the best names in the RSL, but he is not its most prominent, despite his flourish in major European competition with Scottish giants Rangers. During his time in Glasgow, he helped the storied club capture the 2021-22 Scottish Cup and finish runners-up in that season’s UEFA Europa League, too.

But what Sakala may lack in profile, he makes up for in personality. It makes the Al Fayha forward one of the RSL’s most infectious characters.

Just last month, after supplying a Man of the Match performance - he has four this season - against Al Najmah on Ronaldo’s birthday, Sakala did more than simply honour his idol with his trademark ‘Siuuu’ celebration.

Upon receiving the award for the game’s standout player, he promptly kissed the trophy, looked down the barrel of the camera and said: “Happy Birthday, Cristiano. This one’s for you!”

A few weeks later, as part of the league’s Saudi Arabia Founding Day celebrations and following a brace in the superb 3-2 victory against Al Taawoun, Sakala arrived at the post-match, pitch-side interview in traditional clothing. He declared with a beaming smile: “Today, no Captain Sakala… Sheikh Sakala!”

It’s hard not to be endeared to the recently turned 29-year-old, taking boyish delight in his approach to the game - and to life. This is a man that attacks every day with an appreciation of the opportunity he has been afforded, as he explained further in that same interview.

“Happy Founding Day to Saudi Arabia, a country of big dreams and a country of big vision,” Sakala said. “I’m very happy to be here. I really appreciate all the Saudi Arabian people; they welcomed me so well here. I am having a great time.

“I’m very happy from the management to the players at my club; they are doing everything to make sure that I’m happy.

“[Saudi people] show me love all the time; even when I’m going to the shops, I feel loved by the people of Saudi Arabia. I really appreciate it… I’m Saudi today!”

The enthusiasm comes through in his play, as well. Not only does Sakala perform with a seemingly ever-present smile, but his on-field vigour reflects his off-field energy. And now, for the second time in three seasons, he has registered 10-plus RSL goals.

With four assists thrown in for good measure, Sakala is once again proving to be one of the Saudi top-flight’s sharpest attacking weapons. You could even go so far as to say one of its best hidden secrets - albeit one that is hiding in plain sight.

Ranked second this season behind only Yannick Carrasco for completed dribbles, Sakala’s formidable goalscoring form is made even more impressive by the fact that he possesses the greatest differential in the RSL between goals scored and his own personal Expected Goals (xG).

With 11 goals from an xG of 5.12, his differential of +5.88 is the most of any player in the league and shows how dangerous he is in the final third. That, clearly, he needs only half a chance to turn an opportunity into a goal. It’s a skill he has displayed ever since he moved to the Kingdom in August 2023.

It’s perhaps no surprise, therefore, that Sakala’s improved output these past couple months has coincided with an upturn for Al Fayha. Once flirting with relegation, they have recorded six wins in their past 10 matches to go from a potential scrap for survival to eyeing a top-seven finish.

With eight rounds remaining, Pedro Emanuel’s side sit level on points with eighth-placed NEOM Sports Club and only six behind Al Ettifaq, in seventh. It ranks as their highest position this deep into a season since 2023-24, when they finished ninth – thanks in large part to Sakala’s 19 goals in his debut RSL campaign.

That top-seven quest was provided a significant boost in the final matchweek before the international break: Al Fayha saw off Al Ettifaq 1-0 at home, with Sakala denied a brilliant 12th league goal this term because of a foul in the build-up play.

Although understandably disappointed by VAR’s intervention, it wasn’t long before Sakala was back smiling, celebrating another crucial contribution to another Al Fayha success.