Elite Joy League: Al-Hilal face their misery in Roshan, and the final repeats in the fourth round

The fourth round of the Roshn Saudi Pro League will have a different feel. For the first time this season, every match goes ahead without a single postponement, unlike the previous three rounds.

Sunday 13 September gets the round under way, with Al-Khaleej hosting Damac in Saihat and Al-Ettifaq meeting Al-Wehda in Dammam. Al-Riyadh face Al-Tadamon in the Saudi capital, which also stages Al-Nassr against Al-Feiha.

Over at the Education Department Stadium in Unaizah, Al-Najma welcome Al-Kholood. Al-Ahli host Al-Kholood in Jeddah, while Al-Hilal take on Neom in Riyadh.

Five matches fill the second day. Al-Taawoun open it with a trip to Al-Okhdood at the Damac Club Stadium in Khamis Mushait. Al-Fateh travel to face Al-Hazem in Al-Rass, and Al-Ansar meet Al-Jabalain in Medina.

Al-Jouf hosts Al-Orobah against Al-Faisaly. Then comes the pick of the round: a fiery top clash between Al-Ittihad and Al-Qadsiah at the former's stadium in Jeddah.

Al-Nassr take on Al-Fayha desperate to shake off the dust of their shock 2-1 defeat to Al-Fateh in the previous round, a repeat of what happened in the quarter-finals of the last Roshn Saudi Pro League.

That surprise loss left Al-Nassr on 3 points from one win and one defeat, marooned in thirteenth place after two matches. Their third fixture against Al-Watan in the first round was postponed.

Al-Fayha, meanwhile, face a third tough test of the season. They lost 3-1 to Al-Ahli in the opening round, then went down by the same scoreline to defending champions Al-Hazem last time out. Their only bright spot has been a 2-0 win over newly promoted Al-Ansar.

Those poor results have dumped Al-Fayha into sixteenth with just 3 points, a return unbecoming of a side that reached the quarter-final play-off last season.

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Al-Ahli's fixture the same day looks straightforward on paper, a meeting with newly promoted Al-Watan, but a few factors make it trickier than it seems.

Al-Watan arrive for their first outing in the Joy Elite League. Their previous three fixtures, against Al-Nassr, Al-Hazm and Al-Ansar, were all postponed. That leaves Al-Ahli facing an opponent they know nothing about.

Complicating matters further, Al-Ahli must do without goalkeeper Salman Al-Jadaani. He was sent off in the last match against Al-Jabalain for a strong tackle in the 61st minute.

That fatal mistake cost Al-Ahli two goals in less than half an hour and dragged them into a 2-2 draw with Al-Jabalain. It was their first stumble of the season, and it heaps extra pressure on the trip to face Al-Watan.

Rather than fighting Al-Taawoun for top spot, Al-Ahli have slipped to third in the Joy Elite League on 7 points, taken from two wins and a single draw. Nothing but a victory will do if they want to climb back to the summit.

Al-Hilal, meanwhile, face a tricky test as they host NEOM in a repeat of the fixture that handed the first team their first defeat of the Roshn League season, a 2-0 loss last Monday.

Two ghosts haunt this one. Beyond the fear of echoing the first team's collapse, there is the memory of the under-21 side's own slip, a 2-1 defeat to Al-Taawoun in the last round of the Jawwy Elite League.

That result, Al-Hilal's first loss of the current Saudi Under-21 League campaign, froze their tally at six points and left them seventh in the standings.

NEOM arrive in far calmer waters. Their fixture against Al-Akhdoud in the previous round was postponed, so they have not kicked a ball in almost two weeks.

Across the opening two rounds, NEOM beat Al-Orobah before slipping to a draw with Al-Najma. That leaves them tenth with four points from two matches.

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Al-Taawoun, top of the table, should have little trouble protecting that lead when they travel to face Al-Akhdood.

A 2-1 win over Al-Hilal in the last round sent them to the summit with a perfect record: 9 points from 3 games, not a slip in sight.

Now they will be desperate to avoid an upset against Al-Akhdood, who sit twenty-first without a single point.

Al-Akhdood have played just one match in the Roshn Saudi League, a 3-0 defeat to Al-Faisaly in the second round. Their fixtures against Al-Khaleej and Neom, in the first and third rounds respectively, were postponed.

Al-Fateh's dominance over Al-Nassr rolled on last round, a third win across two seasons of the Joy Elite League. Now comes a chance for revenge against the side that denied them the title last season: Al-Hazem.

Barely four months have passed since the two last met. That was the final of the previous edition of the Joy Elite League, and Al-Hazem settled it 3-1.

Both sides arrive full of confidence. Al-Fateh beat Al-Nassr 2-1 last round, while Al-Hazem claimed their first win of the season, seeing off Al-Feiha by the same 3-1 scoreline.

In the standings, Al-Fateh sit fifth on 6 points, the product of two wins and a single defeat, that loss coming against Al-Ahli in the second round.

Al-Hazem, by contrast, languish in fourteenth on 3 points. Those came from the victory over Al-Feiha last round. They lost to Al-Jabalain in the first round, and their second-round meeting with Al-Watan was postponed.

The finale will be the top match of the fourth round of the Roshn Saudi League, when Al-Ittihad face Al-Qadsiah in a battle for the summit of the competition.

Al-Ittihad sit second with 7 points. A goalless draw with Damac in the opening round was followed by two straight wins, the latest a 4-1 thrashing of Al-Wehda last time out.

Al-Qadsiah, meanwhile, arrive buoyed by their 4-2 win over then-leaders Al-Ettifaq in the last round, and now they face another eagerly awaited top clash against Al-Ittihad.

That victory over Al-Ettifaq lifted Al-Qadsiah to 6 points and sixth place, built on two wins and a single defeat. Beat Al-Ittihad and they could climb into the golden square on merit.

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The opening three rounds of the Roshn Saudi Pro League produced 31 matches, 26 of them wins. Just five ended level, including a goalless stalemate between Al-Ittihad and Damac on the opening weekend.

Those 31 matches yielded 97 goals. That's more than three per game, a remarkably high return.

Al-Ettifaq boast the league's sharpest attack after three rounds, racking up 14 goals. Al-Ittihad, Al-Taawoun and Neom head the defensive charts among the sides that have played, conceding just one apiece.

Al-Tadhamon sit at the other end, shipping 14 goals in three games. Three teams have yet to find the net at all: Al-Okhdood, Al-Orobah and Al-Ansar, along with Al-Watan, who are yet to play.

Individually, Al-Ettifaq star Mohammed Al-Aissa leads the scoring charts after three rounds with six goals. Al-Ahli's Ziyad Aba and Al-Fateh striker En-Nesyri follow on four.