Al-Ittihad turn to eight overseas players for Neftchi Fergana test

Al-Ittihad manager Jens Wissing has named eight foreign players in his starting XI for Monday evening’s AFC Champions League Elite meeting with Uzbek side Neftchi Fergana.

Serbian goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic starts behind a defence featuring Portugal international Danilo Pereira and Saad Al-Mousa. Muhannad Al-Shanqiti and Fares Abdi are selected as the full-backs.

Colombian midfielder Richard Rios and Senegalese midfielder Dion Lopy join Algeria international Houssem Aouar in midfield, while the attack consists of the Dutch pair Georginio Wijnaldum and Steven Bergwijn, alongside Nigeria forward George Ilenikhena.

Wissing has left out Ahmed Al-Ghamdi and Mukhtar Ali, both of whom started Al-Ittihad’s most recent match against Al-Diriyah in the 11th round of the Saudi Pro League. Al-Ittihad won that game 2-0.

The Saudi club are still waiting for their first victory in the West region of the AFC Champions League Elite. They began their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Qatar’s Al-Shamal before losing 2-1 at home to the United Arab Emirates’ Shabab Al Ahli.

Neftchi Fergana are seventh in the group with three points. They collected those points by beating Iraq’s Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, but then lost 3-1 to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr.

The match is therefore important for both teams. Al-Ittihad need to revive their continental campaign and avoid another setback that could make qualification more difficult, while victory would allow Neftchi Fergana to increase their points total and climb the standings.