Al-Shabab vs Al Riffa Prediction: A must win encounter for the visiting team

At the Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Al-Shabab will host Al Riffa in the upcoming round 15 Bahrain Premier League fixture. In their previous encounter, Al Riffa secured a 3-1 victory on their home turf. Now, let's delve into the comprehensive match previews and formulate a prediction.

Al-Shabab will be seeking an improved outcome following their 1-0 loss to Al-Hidd in the previous Premier League fixture. Ismail Lagrayei emerged as the hero with a last-minute strike, securing the victory for Al-Hidd. However, Al-Shabab finds themselves on a losing streak, with another defeat against Manama Club, also ending 0-1. Prior to these setbacks, Al-Shabab enjoyed an unbeaten run spanning eight games. However, it has been rare for them to keep a clean sheet recently. In fact, they have conceded goals in all of their last six matches, totaling eight goals against them during that period.

In their previous match, Al Riffa played to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League encounter against Al-Muharraq. However, a glance at Al Riffa's recent matches reveals that they have now drawn three games, won one, and drawn one. In five of the last six games involving Al Riffa, a relatively low number of goals have been scored between them and their opponents. The overall average goals scored per game during that period is a modest 1.83, with Al Riffa averaging 1.17 goals. Heading into their next match, Al Riffa are currently in second place in the league standings with 28 points, trailing first-placed Al Khalidiyah by 2 points.

This is a pivotal match for both teams, and they cannot afford to drop points. The hosts are striving to climb out of the bottom spot, while Al Riffa is aiming for a victory to claim the top spot in the table. Hence, considering the disparity in squad quality and expected level of play, Al Riffa is anticipated to secure all three points in a game where both teams could score, similar to their first-leg encounter.