Al Ittihad find themselves at a crossroads this season, sitting fourth in the Saudi Pro League with 24 points from 11 games while dealing with the fallout from a damaging 4-1 home defeat to Al-Ain in the AFC Champions League Elite. That result exposed defensive vulnerabilities that coach Jens Weissflog has yet to resolve, and it leaves the club needing a response when they host Pakhtakor Tashkent on November 23 in their next continental fixture.

Off the pitch, uncertainty is building around the squad's future. Eight players are approaching the final months of their contracts and will enter the free-agency window in January 2027, giving the club difficult decisions to make in the winter transfer market. Defender Saad Al-Mousa is among those out of contract at the end of the season, and his agent has publicly denied that the club has made any renewal offer, contradicting earlier reports. With Al-Mousa limited to just five appearances this season following a long injury absence, his future remains unresolved.

Adding to the uncertainty are reports of multiple investor consortiums competing to acquire the club from the Public Investment Fund, though a deal is not expected to be finalised before late 2027. For now, the focus falls on stabilising results. The revised Roshn Saudi League schedule, reshaped after the postponement of the 2027 Asian Cup, gives the squad slightly more recovery time between fixtures, with average rest periods rising from 3.4 to 4.8 days.