Al Khalidiyah vs East Riffa Prediction: The home team will not struggle in either half

In the Bahrain Premier League, Al Khalidiyah will play East Riffa at the Al Muharraq Stadium in Arad. Heading into this game, the home team is the favorite, while the visiting side is the underdog. Let’s preview this game and make predictions. 

Al Khalidiyah are coming off a 1-2 win over Al Quwa Al Jawiya in their last AFC Champions League. In that game, Al Khalidiyah took the lead in the 31st minute with a Mahdi Faisal Al Humaidan strike. However, the veteran midfielder got his second of the day in the 74th minute before Alaa Abbas Abdulnabi struck for their opponent before full-time. However, the home team's last league game was against Al Riffa, and they pulled off a home win, which ended 1-0. Heading into this game, Al Khalidiyah sit 4th in the standings with six points accumulated and six goals with zero conceded. 

East Riffa are coming off a disappointing encounter against Al-Najma and will look to do better here. In that game, East Riffa came from two goals to level the score but ended up conceding twice before the end of full time. In the meantime, the visiting side have lost each of their first three matches this season, the first two being a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Malkia and Bahrain SC. With the only side without a point this season, East Riffa sit at the bottom of the standings, scoring four goals and conceding eight. 

Looking at how the visiting East Riffa have started the season, I do not see them having a chance in this fixture. At home, Al Khalidiyah have that squad and team mentality that should propel them to victory. With contrasting results in their first matches of the season, a win for the home team in each looks like the best result, an encounter where they should keep a clean sheet.