Al-Ittihad’s top scorer and Al-Ahli’s rising stars… 5 players to watch in the Elite League play-offs

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The standout name in the play-offs is Al-Ittihad striker Ammar Al-Ghamdi, who will lead his side against Neom in pursuit of a quarter-final berth alongside Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittifaq and Al-Taawoun.

He underlined his form in the club’s final league outing, rising to meet a cross and powering a header home for the Tigers’ second in their 4-1 win over Al-Shabab.

That header not only secured the win; it propelled him into third place in the Saudi Under-21 scoring chart, with 12 goals, one clear of Al-Khaloud striker Abdullah Al-Ajyan.

His regular call-ups to Al-Ittihad’s first-team squad—under both Portuguese manager Sérgio Conceição and former French coach Laurent Blanc—underline his talent.

Yet the play-offs will be no walkover: Neom boast one of the Elite League’s meanest defences this term.

Speaking of scoring prowess, the play-off matches will feature one of the league’s most prolific strikers: Al-Fayha’s Moaz Al-Habib, who faces Al-Qadisiyah in a tough encounter.

Since joining Al-Fayha from Al-Qadisiyah in the winter transfer window, the striker has formed a lethal partnership with Ammar Al-Khaibari.

The young striker has already netted 10 league goals, leaving him fifth in the scoring charts and level with Al-Nassr star Asim Mohammed.

Now he must demonstrate his finishing ability against every opponent, including Al-Qadisiyah, who missed out on direct quarter-final qualification only in the last round of the league phase.

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The match will also showcase another standout from the current Elite League season, Al-Ahli youth-product Ammar Al-Yahibi, now plying his trade for Al-Qadisiyah.

Like Al-Habib, Al-Yahibi switched allegiances midway through the campaign, joining Al-Qadisiyah on a free transfer during the winter window after his Al-Ahli deal expired.

Since then, the youngster has looked sharper and more agile on the left wing—the position where his talent first blossomed—than he did at Al-Ahli, where he was often rotated across multiple attacking roles.

Together with Ammar Al-Hajjaj and Iyad Hossa, he has formed an unstoppable attacking trio that Al-Fayha must contain if they are to progress through the play-off stage.

Another standout talent, very much in the mould of Ammar Al-Yahibi, is Khaled Abduljawad, who will captain Al-Hazm in their challenging play-off clash with Al-Akhdoud.

Like Al-Yahibi, he developed through Al-Ahli’s youth system and has since established himself as one of the Elite League’s most dangerous wingers.

Al-Hazm’s current top scorer, he was instrumental in guiding the team to the play-offs and will be crucial against Al-Akhdoud.

His latest opportunity to shine arrives against Al-Akhdoud, a side that has slipped sharply since former striker Abdullah Al-Ajyan’s winter move to Al-Khaloud.

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The final talent to watch in the play-off is a third product of Al Ahly’s youth academy: striker Murad Khudari.

Al-Wehda supporters see him as their wild card when the team locks horns with Al-Fateh in the quarter-final play-off.

The prolific striker came to prominence at the end of January and beginning of February, when he scored a hat-trick in back-to-back matches against Al-Bukairiya and Al-Akhdoud.

With eight goals to his name, he currently sits ninth in the Joi Elite League scoring chart, alongside Al-Najma’s Muayad Al-Sharari.

However, he faces a stern test against Al-Fateh, who boast the league’s second-best defence this season, behind only Al-Nassr. To propel his side into the last eight, Khudari must raise his game and find a way through that resilient rearguard.

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