Fabinho's Sharp Return Sets Up a Tense Ittihad vs. Shabab Showdown

Match Preview

Brazilian Fabinho, the midfielder for Al-Ittihad, has put his Portuguese coach Sérgio Conceição in a 'happy trouble' ahead of the eagerly awaited clash with Al-Shabab in the Roshn Saudi League.

Al-Ittihad will host its rivals Al-Shabab on Saturday at the Al-Enma Stadium, wrapping up the eleventh round of the Roshn Saudi League.

Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadhia reported that Fabinho, along with right-back Muhannad Al-Shanqiti, returned to training ahead of the Al-Shabab clash.

The duo were injured during Al-Ittihad's 1-0 win over Nasaf Qarshi of Uzbekistan on Tuesday, in the AFC Champions League group stage, which forced them to leave in the final minutes.

Team News and Absences

Fabinho's return will put Conceição in a dilemma, as he would have to drop one foreign player from among nine available, unlike his absence which would have made it easy to include all foreigners in the match squad.

Conceição has in his squad Predrag Rajković, Mario Mitéi, Danilo Pereira, Carlo Simic, N'Golo Kanté, Fabinho, Karim Benzema, Steven Bergwijn, and Roger Fernandes among the foreign players.

Three foreign players are currently unavailable: Frenchman Moussa Diaby suspended, Algerian Houssem Aouar injured, and Mamadou Doumbia who is with Mali for AFCON 2025.

It is noted Conceição has recently relied on Fabinho at center-back alongside Danilo Pereira, as Saad Al-Mousa is injured, and Hasan Kadish has been used at left-back.