2020–21 Saudi Pro League

Professional League

Season	2020–21
Dates	17 October 2020 – 30 May 2021
Matches played	126
Goals scored	352 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorer	Carlos Strandberg Fábio Abreu (10 goals each)
Biggest home win	Al-Taawoun 4–0 Al-Shabab (21 December 2020)
Biggest away win	Al-Ettifaq 0–4 Al-Fateh (24 November 2020)
Highest scoring	Al-Ain 3–4 Al-Ahli (7 November 2020) Damac 4–3 Al-Ahli (5 December 2020)
Longest winning run	Al-Hilal (5 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Al-Ittihad (11 matches)
Longest winless run	Al-Raed (9 matches)
Longest losing run	Al-Ain (5 matches)
← 2019–20 2021–22 → All statistics correct as of 31 January 2021.

The 2020–21 Saudi Professional League is the 45th edition of the Saudi Professional League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1976. The season is began on 17 October 2020 as a consequence of the postponement of the previous season's conclusion due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fixtures for the 2020–21 season were announced on 29 September 2020.

Al-Hilal are the defending champions after winning the Pro League for the 16th time last season. Al-Ain, Al-Batin, and Al-Qadsiah join as the three promoted clubs from the 2019–20 MS League. They replace Al-Adalah, Al-Fayha, and Al-Hazem who were relegated to the 2020–21 MS League.

Teams

Abha

Al-Ahli
Al-Ittihad

Al-Ain

Al-Batin

Al-Ettifaq

Al-Faisaly

Al-Fateh

Al-Hilal
Al-Nassr
Al-Shabab

Al-Qadsiah

Al-Raed
Al-Taawoun

Al-Wehda

Damac

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Locations of teams in the 2020–21 Saudi Professional League

Sixteen teams will compete in the league – the top thirteen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the MS League.

Teams who were promoted to the Pro League

The first club to be promoted was Al-Batin, who were promoted following Al-Bukayriyah's 1–1 draw with Al-Ain on 1 September 2020. Al-Batin will play in the top flight of Saudi football after a season's absence. Al-Batin were crowned champions following their 1–1 draw with Al-Bukayriyah on the final matchday.

The second club to be promoted was Al-Ain, who were promoted on 10 September 2020 following their 2–0 win at home against Ohod. Al-Ain will play in the top flight of Saudi football for the first time in history. Al-Ain became the first team from the Al Bahah Region to play in the Pro League.

The third and final club to be promoted was Al-Qadsiah, following their 3–1 home win against an already promoted Al-Batin side on 10 September 2020. Al-Qadsiah will play in the top flight of Saudi football after a season's absence.

Teams who were relegated to the MS League

The first club to be relegated was Al-Adalah, who were relegated after only a year in the top flight following a 1–1 home draw with Al-Raed.

On 4 September 2020, Al-Hazem became the second club to be relegated following a 1–0 defeat away to Al-Shabab. Al-Hazem were relegated after two years in the top flight.

On 9 September 2020, Al-Fayha became the third and final club to be relegated following a 1–0 defeat away to Al-Taawoun in the final matchday. Al-Fayha were relegated after three years in the Pro League. This was Al-Fayha's first relegation from the top flight of Saudi football.

Stadiums

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Abha	Abha	Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium	20,000
Al-Ahli	Jeddah	King Abdullah Sports City	62,345
Al-Ain	Al Bahah	King Saud Sport City Stadium (Al Bahah)	10,000
Al-Batin	Hafar Al-Batin	Al-Batin Club Stadium	6,000
Al-Ettifaq	Dammam	Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium	35,000
Al-Faisaly	Harmah	Al Majma'ah Sports City [1]	7,000
Al-Fateh	Al-Hasa	Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium	26,000
Al-Hilal	Riyadh	King Fahd International Stadium [2]	62,685
Al-Ittihad	Jeddah	King Abdullah Sports City	62,345
Al-Nassr	Riyadh	King Saud University Stadium	25,000
Al-Qadsiah	Khobar	Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium	15,000
Al-Raed	Buraidah	King Abdullah Sport City Stadium	25,000
Al-Shabab	Riyadh	King Fahd International Stadium [3]	62,685
Al-Taawoun	Buraidah	King Abdullah Sport City Stadium	25,000
Al-Wehda	Mecca	King Abdul Aziz Stadium	38,000
Damac	Khamis Mushait	Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium [4]	20,000

1: ^ Al-Faisaly play their home games in Al Majma'ah.
2: ^ Al-Hilal and Al-Shabab also use Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium (22,500 seats) as a home stadium.

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Abha	Abdulrazaq Al Shabi	Karim Aouadhi	Offside	Yelo, Vveyon, Mezaj Maghribi1, Saudi German Hospital1, ARASCO2
Al-Ahli	Vladan Milojević	Yasser Al-Mosailem	Xtep	Saudia, MG Cars, Almsakin Palace, Boga Super Foods2, Saudi German Hospital2
Al-Ain	Pablo Machín	Saeed Al-Qarni	Skillano	Gento
Al-Batin	José Garrido	Mazyad Freeh	Skillano	Traof, AlNadeg1, Yelo1, ARASCO2, Maroom Medical Center2
Al-Ettifaq	Khaled Al-Atwi	Raïs M'Bolhi	Jako	Al Mattar, Mystery, Kammelna1, Innosoft2, Thouq2
Al-Faisaly	Péricles Chamusca	Igor Rossi	adidas	ALDREES, Gree Electric, Yelo1, Roco2, ARASCO2
Al-Fateh	Yannick Ferrera	Mohammed Al-Fuhaid	Offside	Kia Motors, Fuschia, Al Kifah Holding1, Almoosa Hospital1, ARASCO2
Al-Hilal	Răzvan Lucescu	Salman Al-Faraj	S Team	EMAAR, Jahez, Tawuniya1, Sayyar2, Shawarmer2
Al-Ittihad	Fábio Carille	Karim El Ahmadi	Tamim	Fakeeh2, Yelo2
Al-Nassr	Alen Horvat (caretaker)	Yahya Al-Shehri	Victory	Etihad Airways, Nejree1, Richy2, Naqi Water2
Al-Qadsiah	Yousef Al Mannai	Naif Hazazi	Puma	Almana Group of Hospital
Al-Raed	Besnik Hasi	Hussain Al-Showaish	Challenge	Yelo, Address Cafe1, ARASCO2
Al-Shabab	Carlos Inarejos	Éver Banega	Xtep	Arkitainer, Bussma, Half Million, The Chefz, Nice One, Saudi German Hospital, Marvel Home1, Sanabel Alsalam1, Tact1, F6or Faris2, QAID2, 3days3, HealthZone3, The Real Burger3, Shawarma Classic3, Veloce3
Al-Taawoun	Patrice Carteron	Ahmed Assiri	Erreà	Al Odhaib1, ARASCO2
Al-Wehda	Ivo Vieira	Waleed Bakshween	Tamim	Lebs.com, QAID2
Damac	Krešimir Režić	Farouk Chafaï	GabyFox	Abu Zaid, Bin Thaliba1, Saudi German Hospital1, Bnoon2, Fazzah2, Superano3

• ¹ On the back of the strip.
• ² On the right sleeve of the strip.
• ³ On the shorts.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Al-Wehda	Essa Al-Mehyani (caretaker)	End of caretaker spell	9 September 2020	Pre-season	Ivo Vieira	10 September 2020
Al-Taawoun	Abdullah Asiri (caretaker)		16 September 2020		Patrice Carteron	16 September 2020
Al-Ain	Al Habib Ben Ramadan	End of contract	20 September 2020		Bruno Baltazar	2 October 2020
	Bruno Baltazar	Resigned	12 October 2020		Michael Skibbe	12 October 2020
Al-Nassr	Rui Vitória	Mutual consent	27 December 2020	15th	Alen Horvat (caretaker)	27 December 2020
Damac	Noureddine Zekri		4 January 2021	16th	Krešimir Režić	12 January 2021
Al-Shabab	Pedro Caixinha	Sacked	5 January 2021	3rd	Carlos Inarejos	5 January 2021
Al-Ain	Michael Skibbe		28 January 2021	16th	Pablo Machín	31 January 2021

Foreign players

The policy of foreign players remained unchanged. Clubs can register a total of seven foreign players over the course of the season.

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Player 7	Former Players
Abha	Mehdi Tahrat	Amine Atouchi	Abdelali Mhamdi	Carlos Strandberg	Karim Aouadhi	Saad Bguir		Craig Goodwin
Al-Ahli	Lucas Lima	Marko Marin	Driss Fettouhi	Alexandru Mitrita	Ljubomir Fejsa	Omar Al Somah		Samuel Owusu
Al-Ain	Bastos	Getterson	Filip Bradarić	Abraham Frimpong	Mohammed Nahiri	Amadou Moutari	Juanpi	Saphir Taïder Peter Nworah Haythem Jouini
Al-Batin	Fábio Abreu	Renato Chaves	Mohamed Rayhi	Xandro Schenk	Youssef El Jebli	Martín Campaña	Khaleem Hyland
Al-Ettifaq	Raïs M'Bolhi	Elierce Souza	Karol Mets	Walid Azaro	Souleymane Doukara	Filip Kiss	Naïm Sliti
Al-Faisaly	Guilherme Augusto	Igor Rossi	Raphael Silva	Julio Tavares	Romain Amalfitano	Alexander Merkel	Hicham Faik
Al-Fateh	Hillal Soudani	Sofiane Bendebka	Marwane Saâdane	Mourad Batna	Mitchell te Vrede	Christian Cueva	Maksym Koval	Gustav Wikheim Saša Jovanović
Al-Hilal	Luciano Vietto	Gustavo Cuéllar	Bafétimbi Gomis	Sebastian Giovinco	André Carrillo	Jang Hyun-soo		Omar Kharbin
Al-Ittihad	Bruno Henrique	Marcelo Grohe	Romarinho	Garry Rodrigues	Ahmed Hegazi	Karim El Ahmadi	Aleksandar Prijović	Bruno Uvini
Al-Nassr	Pity Martínez	Brad Jones	Petros	Abderrazak Hamdallah	Nordin Amrabat	Kim Jin-su		Maicon Ahmed Musa
Al-Qadsiah	Rhys Williams	Edson da Cruz	Danilo Asprilla	Carolus Andriamatsinoro	Leke James	Uroš Vitas	Mihai Bordeianu	Stanley Ohawuchi
Al-Raed	Azzedine Doukha	Ronnie Fernández	Arnaud Djoum	Karim El Berkaoui	Mohamed Fouzair	Nemanja Miletić	Nemanja Nikolić	Jalal Daoudi Jehad Al-Hussain
Al-Shabab	Cristian Guanca	Éver Banega	Sebá	Igor Lichnovsky	Odion Ighalo	Fábio Martins	Alfred N'Diaye	Giedrius Arlauskis Makhete Diop
Al-Taawoun	Cássio	Iago Santos	Sandro Manoel	Cédric Amissi	Léandre Tawamba	Alejandro Romero Gamarra	Abdoulaye Sané	Mitchell Duke
Al-Wehda	Dimitri Petratos	Anselmo	Luis Gustavo	Pedro Henrique	Youssouf Niakaté	Alberto Botía	Hernâni
Damac	Farouk Chafaï	Cristian Lema	Emilio Zelaya	Sergio Vittor	Domagoj Antolić	Amahl Pellegrino	Bilel Saidani	Ibrahim Chenihi Moustapha Zeghba

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Al-Hilal (C)	30	18	7	5	60	27	+33	61	Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage
2	Al-Shabab	30	17	6	7	68	43	+25	57
3	Al-Ittihad	30	15	11	4	45	29	+16	56
4	Al-Taawoun	30	13	8	9	42	30	+12	47	Qualification for AFC Champions League play-off round
5	Al-Ettifaq	30	14	5	11	50	48	+2	47
6	Al-Nassr	30	13	7	10	53	40	+13	46
7	Al-Fateh	30	12	6	12	55	55	0	42
8	Al-Ahli	30	11	6	13	44	56	−12	39
9	Al-Faisaly	30	9	9	12	42	47	−5	36	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
10	Al-Raed	30	10	6	14	44	47	−3	36
11	Damac	30	9	9	12	43	48	−5	36
12	Al-Batin	30	9	9	12	43	55	−12	36
13	Abha	30	10	6	14	42	50	−8	36
14	Al-Qadsiah (R)	30	8	11	11	41	47	−6	35	Relegation to MS League
15	Al-Wehda (R)	30	9	5	16	40	60	−20	32
16	Al-Ain (R)	30	5	5	20	34	64	−30	20

Source: spl.com source=إحصائيات رابطة دوري المحترفين السعودي 2020-2021
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Total goal difference; 5) Total goals scored; 6) Fair-play points (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Positions by round

The following table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve the chronological evolution, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterward. If a club from the Saudi Professional League wins the King Cup, they will qualify for the AFC Champions League, unless they have already qualified for it through their league position. In this case, an additional AFC Champions League group stage berth will be given to the 3rd placed team, and the AFC Champions League play-off round spot will be given to 4th.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Abha	14	12	10	12	12	11	9	9	12	13	9	8	6	9	8	10
Al-Ahli	6	2	7	3	5	3	3	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3
Al-Ain	16	16	16	16	13	13	13	14	14	14	15	15	15	16	16	16
Al-Batin	15	15	13	7	8	9	11	7	10	11	13	14	13	13	12	13
Al-Ettifaq	3	1	5	8	11	12	12	10	6	4	7	9	8	6	7	6
Al-Faisaly	8	5	3	4	6	7	5	5	7	9	11	12	12	12	13	14
Al-Fateh	4	4	1	6	3	4	7	11	13	8	8	7	11	11	11	12
Al-Hilal	5	7	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
Al-Ittihad	12	11	8	10	10	6	4	4	5	5	4	4	5	4	4	5
Al-Nassr	11	14	14	13	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	11	10	7	6	7
Al-Qadsiah	13	9	6	9	9	10	10	6	8	10	10	10	9	10	9	8
Al-Raed	1	3	9	5	4	5	8	12	11	12	12	13	14	14	14	11
Al-Shabab	7	6	4	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	1
Al-Taawoun	9	8	11	11	7	8	6	8	4	7	6	6	4	5	5	4
Al-Wehda	2	10	12	14	14	14	14	13	9	6	5	5	7	8	10	9
Damac	10	13	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	15	15	15

	Leader
	2022 AFC Champions League group stage
	2022 AFC Champions League play-off round
	Relegation to 2021–22 MS League

Updated to match(es) played on 31 January 2021. Source: spl.com.sa

Results

Home \ Away	ABH	AHL	AIN	BAT	ETT	FSY	FAT	HIL	ITT	NSR	QAD	RAE	SHB	TWN	WHD	DAM
Abha		25 May	15 Apr	17 Feb	3–2	1–0	5 Mar	1–1	20 May	2–1	2–2	22 Feb	2–3	0–0	0–1	21 Mar
Al-Ahli	3–0		17 Feb	2–2	30 May	2–1	1–0	0–0	11 Feb	11 Mar	14 May	8 Apr	2–2	0–3	1–0	6 Mar
Al-Ain	2–4	3–4		30 May	1–0	5 Mar	2–4	9 Feb	1–2	14 May	1–2	1–0	0–3	1–0	21 Mar	23 Feb
Al-Batin	3–0	0–1	2–1		19 May	5 Feb	10 Mar	2–2	1–2	1–2	23 Feb	2–1	10 Apr	1–1	27 Feb	25 May
Al-Ettifaq	11 Feb	1–2	2–1	1–1		20 Mar	0–4	0–2	2–0	5 Mar	10 Apr	25 May	14 May	27 Feb	1–2	4–2
Al-Faisaly	14 May	27 Feb	1–1	2–1	0–3		10 Apr	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–2	10 Mar	25 May	0–0	12 Feb	18 Feb
Al-Fateh	1–3	21 Mar	13 Feb	1–2	23 Feb	3–2		28 Feb	2–2	9 Feb	25 May	0–2	1–3	1–2	15 May	17 Apr
Al-Hilal	2–3	19 May	1–0	14 May	18 Feb	30 May	3–0		1–1	2–0	20 Mar	5 Mar	1–1	2–0	1–2	2–0
Al-Ittihad	0–1	2–0	25 May	16 Apr	1–2	23 Feb	4–1	9 Apr		1–1	1–0	0–0	10 Mar	1–1	5 Mar	1–0
Al-Nassr	28 Feb	1–2	3–0	21 Mar	2–2	16 Apr	1–2	23 Feb	30 May		2–0	20 May	13 Feb	3–0	3–1	2–2
Al-Qadsiah	30 May	3–1	10 Mar	2–2	1–2	19 May	1–1	1–3	28 Feb	18 Feb		16 Apr	2–1	1–0	2–2	2–1
Al-Raed	2–1	1–2	28 Feb	12 Feb	2–3	0–2	30 May	0–1	21 Mar	0–1	2–2		2–2	15 May	17 Feb	4–2
Al-Shabab	1–0	22 Feb	19 May	3–1	1–0	1–1	17 Feb	17 Apr	1–1	2–1	5 Mar	6 Feb		20 Mar	30 May	2–1
Al-Taawoun	10 Mar	15 Apr	9 Apr	4 Mar	1–1	1–1	20 May	25 May	18 Feb	1–0	13 Feb	0–0	4–0		1–0	3–1
Al-Wehda	8 Apr	5 Feb	2–1	3–2	17 Apr	1–2	0–0	11 Mar	1–2	25 May	2–1	2–3	2–4	22 Feb		20 May
Damac	2–1	4–3	0–2	2–0	11 Mar	0–0	1–2	14 Feb	15 May	9 Apr	6 Feb	2–3	28 Feb	30 May	0–0

Updated to match(es) played on 4 February 2021. Source: goalzz.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

As of 31 January 2021

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Carlos Strandberg	Abha	10
	Fabio Abreu	Al-Batin
3	Hassan Al-Amri	Al-Qadsiah	9
	Emilio Zelaya	Damac
	Romarinho	Al-Ittihad
6	Omar Al Somah	Al-Ahli	8
	Bafétimbi Gomis	Al-Hilal
	Júlio Tavares	Al-Faisaly
9	Cristian Guanca	Al-Shabab	7
10	Naïm Sliti	Al-Ettifaq	6
	Léandre Tawamba	Al-Taawoun
	Filip Kiss	Al-Ettifaq
	Dimitri Petratos	Al-Wehda
	Sofiane Bendebka	Al-Fateh
	Karim El Berkaoui	Al-Raed

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref.
Omar Al Somah	Al-Ahli	Al-Ain	4–3 (A)	7 November 2020
Dimitri Petratos	Al-Wehda	Al-Batin	3–2 (H)	29 November 2020
Carlos Strandberg	Abha	Al-Ain	4–2 (A)	1 January 2021
Léandre Tawamba	Al-Taawoun	Damac	3–1 (H)	25 January 2021
Karim El Berkaoui4	Al-Raed	Damac	4–2 (H)	31 January 2021

Notes

(H) – Home; (A) – Away
⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Most assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Abdullah Al-Hamdan	Al-Shabab	8
2	Saad Bguir	Abha	6
	Youssef El Jebli	Al-Batin
4	Abdullah Al-Mogren	Al-Raed	5
	Saleh Al-Amri	Abha
6	Mohammed Al-Sahli	Al-Raed	4
	Alexandru Mitriță	Al-Ahli
	Hussain Al-Eisa	Al-Wehda
	Bafétimbi Gomis	Al-Hilal
	Stanley Ohawuchi	Al-Qadsiah

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Cássio	Al-Taawoun	7
2	Abdullah Al-Mayouf	Al-Hilal	5
3	Marcelo Grohe	Al-Ittihad	4
4	Amin Al Bukhari	Al-Ain	3
	Azzedine Doukha	Al-Raed
	Abdullah Al-Owaishir	Al-Wehda
	Abdelali Mhamdi	Abha
	Brad Jones	Al-Nassr
9	Abdullah Al-Jadaani	Al-Hilal	2
	Mohammed Al-Rubeai	Al-Ahli
	Maksym Koval	Al-Fateh
	Zaid Al-Bawardi	Al-Shabab
	Yasser Al-Mosailem	Al-Ahli
	Khalid Sharahili	Damac

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 8
  • Filip Kiss (Al-Ettifaq)

• Most red cards: 1

22 players

Club

• Most yellow cards: 43
  • Al-Faisaly
  • Al-Wehda

• Most red cards: 5
  • Damac

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Goalkeeper of the Month		Rising Star of the Month		Reference
	Manager	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
October	Yannick Ferrera	Al-Fateh	Éver Banega	Al-Shabab	Abdullah Al-Mayouf	Al-Hilal	Saud Abdulhamid	Al-Ittihad
November	Răzvan Lucescu	Al-Hilal	Omar Al Somah	Al-Ahli	Amin Al Bukhari	Al-Ain	Abdulelah Al-Amri	Al-Nassr
December	Khaled Al-Atwi	Al-Ettifaq	Naïm Sliti	Al-Ettifaq	Marcelo Grohe	Al-Ittihad	Saud Abdulhamid	Al-Ittihad
January	Alen Horvat	Al-Nassr	Léandre Tawamba	Al-Taawoun	Cássio	Al-Taawoun	Abdullah Al-Hamdan	Al-Shabab

Number of teams by region

Rank	Region	Number	Teams
1	Eastern Province	4	Al-Batin, Al-Ettifaq, Al-Fateh and Al-Qadsiah
	Riyadh		Al-Faisaly, Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Shabab
3	Mecca	3	Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and Al-Wehda
4	Al-Qassim	2	Al-Raed and Al-Taawoun
	Asir		Abha and Damac
6	Al Bahah	1	Al-Ain