Al-Ahli visited Al-Shabab at the SHG Arena in Riyadh on Friday 30 October in the twelfth round of the Roshn League, with Ivan Toney absent from the starting line-up. Marino Pusic selected Firas Al-Buraikan as his main striker instead.
Toney misses the match
GOAL said Toney was missing as a result of the trial he faced at England's Southwark Crown Court on Thursday 29 October on a charge of assaulting a person by battery.
Arriyadiyah reported that Toney ran out of time to make the Al-Shabab game after the trial.
Toney will instead link up with the squad in Qatar for Monday's clash with Al-Sadd in the AFC Champions League Elite.
Pusic reshapes the attack
Francisco Trincao and Matheus Goncalves were named as support for Al-Buraikan.
Wenderson Galeno was on the substitutes' bench despite having shaken off the injury that had sidelined him for the past 4 matches.
Goalkeeper selection
Edouard Mendy was left out of the squad even though he travelled with the team to Riyadh.
Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi was selected between the posts.
League positions before kick-off
Al-Ahli went into the match sixth in the Saudi League on 21 points from 7 wins and 3 defeats.
Al-Shabab were twelfth on 11 points.
