Al-Hilal Faces Al-Taawoun: Breaking the Curse in Buraidah

Al-Hilal walk into Buraidah on Saturday carrying more than just the weight of top spot in the Saudi Roshn League. They travel to face Al-Taawoun with an uncomfortable question hanging over them: can they dodge a curse that has stalked them only once in the last five years?

The Riyadh powerhouse arrive wounded. Their perfect start to the season cracked on Monday, when Neom handed them a 2-0 defeat in the sixth round. It was their first league loss of the campaign, and it reopened an old scar inside the club.

A run they refuse to relive

“The Boss” have not lost two league matches in a row for almost half a decade. That resilience has become part of their identity. Yet the last time they did buckle twice on the bounce still stings, not least because of who delivered the first blow.

In December 2021, Al-Hilal fell 2-0 to their neighbours and fierce rivals Al-Nassr. The setback cut deep. Instead of responding, they slipped again in the very next round, losing 3-2 to Al-Fateh. Two games, zero points, and a rare wobble for the capital club.

Since that double stumble, Al-Hilal have treated a league defeat as a one-off event, not the start of a spiral. Every time they have been beaten in the Saudi Roshn League, the worst that followed was a draw. Never another loss. Never a sequence.

That is the record now on the line in Buraidah.

Top of the table, but no room for comfort

The league table still flatters them. Al-Hilal sit first on 15 points, ahead of Al-Nassr and Al-Qadsiah only on goal difference, with their rivals tucked in behind in second and third.

So the margin is thin. Any slip in Buraidah could invite their neighbours to seize control of the title race, just as memories of that 2021 dip resurface.

Al-Taawoun will sense the moment. Al-Hilal will feel the history. One match decides whether this is just a bump in the road, or the night the “curse” returns to the Roshn League.