2017–18 Prince Mohammad bin Salman League

The 2017–18 Prince Mohammad bin Salman League was the first season of the Prince Mohammad bin Salman League under its current name, and 41st season of the Saudi First Division since its establishment in 1976. The season started on 12 September 2017 and concluded on 18 April 2018.^[1][2]

Prince Mohammad bin Salman League

Season	2017–18
Champions	Al-Wehda
Promoted	Al-Wehda Al-Hazem
Relegated	Al-Watani
Matches played	240
Goals scored	689 (2.87 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mashari Al-Enezi (21 goals)
Biggest home win	Al-Mujazzel 6–1 Al-Nahda (14 February 2018)
Biggest away win	Jeddah 1–5 Al-Kawkab (11 October 2017)
Highest scoring	Al-Qaisumah 4–6 Al-Kawkab (29 November 2017)
Longest winning run	5 matches Al-Hazem
Longest unbeaten run	9 matches Al-Wehda
Longest winless run	10 matches Al-Nojoom
Longest losing run	7 matches Najran
← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 4 May 2018.

Overview

First Division rebranding

On 19 September 2017, the General Sports Authority announced a rebrand; beginning with the 2017–18 season, the competition was known as the Prince Faisal bin Fahd League. As part of the rebranding, a new logo was introduced.^[3] On 9 February 2018, the General Sports Authority once again announced a rebrand; starting from the current season, the competition will be known as the Prince Mohammad bin Salman League.^[4]

Rule changes

On 11 September 2017, the SAFF announced that the numbers of foreign players were increased from 2 players to 3 players. They also announced that the allowed number of substitutions per match was increased from 3 to 5.^[5]

Teams

A total of 16 teams are contesting the league, including 11 sides from the 2016–17 season, two relegated from the 2016–17 Professional League, and three promoted from the 2016–17 Second Division.

Al-Kawkab and Jeddah became the first two clubs to be promoted to the First Division, with both clubs finishing as group winners. Al-Mujazzel became the third and final club to be promoted, following a 5–1 win over Al-Ansar on 3 March 2017, to secure their return to the First Division after only a season's absence. Al-Kawkab returned to the First Division for the first time since the 2013–14 season, and Jeddah will play in their first-ever season in the First Division since being re-branded.

On 20 April 2017, Al-Wehda became the first side to be relegated from the Pro League following a 2–1 home defeat to Al-Fateh.^[6] This will be Al-Wehda's first season back to the First Division since the 2014–15 season. On 4 May 2017, Al-Khaleej were the 2nd side to be relegated from the Pro League after a 2–2 draw with Al-Faisaly, finishing 13th in the league.^[7] This will also be Al-Khaleej's first season return to the First Division since the 2013–14 season.

On 27 April 2017 Wej became the first club to be relegated to the Second Division following 2–1 loss to Hajer. On the final matchday, both Al-Adalh and Al-Jeel were relegated to the Second Division, with both clubs drawing their matches.

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2016–17 season.

To Prince Mohammad bin Salman League Promoted from Second Division Al-Kawkab Jeddah Al-Mujazzel Relegated from Professional League Al-Khaleej Al-Wehda From Prince Mohammad bin Salman League Relegated to Second Division Al-Adalh Al-Jeel Wej Promoted to Professional League Al-Feiha Ohod

Stadia and locations

Al-Hazem

Al-Kawkab
Al-Shoulla

Al-Khaleej

Al-Mujazzal

Al-Nahda

Al-Nojoom
Hajer

Al-Orobah

Al-Qaisumah

Al-Tai

Al-Watani

Al-Wehda

Damac

Jeddah

Najran

Locations of teams in the 2017–18 Saudi First Division

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Al-Hazem	Ar Rass	Al-Hazem Club Stadium	2,800[8]
Al-Kawkab	Al-Kharj	Al-Shoulla Club Stadium	5,200[9]
Al-Khaleej	Saihat	Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Stadium	10,000 [10]
Al-Mujazzal	Al-Majma'ah	King Salman Sport City Stadium	5,200[11]
Al-Nahda	Dammam	Prince Fahd bin Salman Stadium	15,000[12]
Al-Nojoom	Al-Hasa	Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium	19,096[13]
Al-Orobah	Sakakah	Al-Oruba Club Stadium	7,000[14]
Al-Qaisumah	Qaisumah	Al-Batin Club Stadium	6,000[15]
Al-Shoulla	Al-Saih	Al-Shoulla Club Stadium	5,200[9]
Al-Tai	Ha'il	Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium	12,000[16]
Al-Watani	Tabuk	King Khalid Sport City Stadium	20,000[17]
Al-Wehda	Makkah	King Abdul Aziz Stadium	33,195[18]
Damac	Khamis Mushait	Damac Club Stadium	3,556[19]
Hajer	Al-Hasa	Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium	19,096[13]
Jeddah	Jeddah	Reserve Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City	1,000[20]
Najran	Najran	Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium	20,000[21]

1: ^ Najran will play at Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium due to the ongoing war in Yemen.

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Former Players
Al-Hazem	Bouazza Feham	Pato	Saeed Mustafa	Dodô
Al-Kawkab	Emmanuel Gomis	Mignane Diouf
Al-Khaleej	Gilmar	Jandson	Alioune N'Diaye	Jorginho
Al-Mujazzal	Juninho Aguiar	Morotó		Gabriel Ceará
Al-Nahda	Mohamed Aoudou	Athir Thomas
Al-Nojoom	Júninho	Tiago Lopes
Al-Orobah	Frank Papara	Thierno Diallo		Rogério Martins
Al-Qaisumah	Diego Barboza	Ahmad Maiga	Souleymane Demba
Al-Shoulla	Dodô	Sadat Bukari
Al-Tai	Aminou Bouba	Ernest Barfo	Fadel Barry	Júninho
Al-Watani	Mohamed Soudani			Edy-Nicolas Boyom
Al-Wehda	Abubaker Khabir			Bouazza Feham
Damac	Abdel Fadel Suanon	Moussa Tigana	Kemokho Cissoko
Hajer	Willen Mota	Houssem Slimène		Hervé Tchami
Jeddah	Reda El-Weshi	Sherif Ashraf
Najran

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Al-Wehda (C, P)	30	17	7	6	49	32	+17	58	Promotion to Professional League
2	Al-Hazem (P)	30	15	8	7	50	32	+18	53
3	Al-Tai	30	15	7	8	52	35	+17	52	Qualification to promotion play-offs
4	Al-Kawkab	30	14	8	8	52	33	+19	50[a]
5	Hajer	30	14	8	8	39	35	+4	50[a]
6	Al-Shoulla	30	11	10	9	42	43	−1	43
7	Al-Khaleej	30	10	11	9	45	40	+5	41
8	Al-Qaisumah	30	11	7	12	52	54	−2	40
9	Damac	30	10	9	11	49	43	+6	39
10	Al-Orobah	30	9	11	10	36	39	−3	38
11	Al-Nahda	30	9	8	13	35	50	−15	35
12	Al-Nojoom	30	6	15	9	34	41	−7	33[b]
13	Al-Mujazzal	30	10	3	17	39	52	−13	33[b]
14	Najran (O)	30	9	6	15	39	51	−12	33[b]	Qualification to Relegation play-offs
15	Al-Watani (R)	30	5	12	13	33	48	−15	27
16	Jeddah (O)	30	5	10	15	43	61	−18	25

Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2018. Source: kooora.com
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) Play-off (only for deciding champion, promotion and relegation).^[22]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Al-Kawkab finished ahead of Hajer on head-to-head points: Al-Kawkab 2–0 Hajer, Hajer 2–2 Al-Kawkab
2. Head-to-head points: Al-Nojoom 8 pts; Al-Mujazzal 4 pts and –1 GD; Najran 4 pts and –2 GD (Al-Nojoom 2–1 Al-Mujazzal, Al-Mujazzal 0–0 Al-Nojoom, Al-Nojoom 2–0 Najran, Najran 1–1 Al-Nojoom, Najran 1–2 Al-Mujazzal, Al-Mujazzal 1–2 Najran).

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterward.

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
Al-Wehda	4	1	4	6	3	6	5	7	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1
Al-Hazem	13	11	11	5	7	4	7	8	3	5	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	3	2
Al-Tai	3	8	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	2	3
Al-Kawkab	10	9	9	12	8	11	13	14	14	13	13	10	8	10	8	6	5	6	4	4	3	3	3	5	4	4	4	4	4	4
Hajer	8	14	14	15	14	13	9	5	6	3	5	5	4	4	5	8	8	8	8	8	7	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5
Al-Shoulla	6	3	3	9	11	10	8	2	5	7	9	7	5	5	6	4	7	5	7	6	5	5	5	4	5	6	7	6	6	6
Al-Khaleej	2	7	7	4	5	5	2	3	2	4	4	6	7	9	11	11	12	14	15	12	9	8	7	7	7	7	6	7	7	7
Al-Qaisumah	12	5	8	3	4	7	3	6	9	10	10	13	14	11	9	7	6	7	6	5	6	7	9	9	9	8	8	8	10	8
Damac	7	13	12	14	15	15	16	16	16	15	14	15	13	14	16	14	13	15	13	13	14	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	8	9
Al-Orobah	1	4	1	1	1	2	4	4	7	6	7	4	6	6	4	5	4	4	5	7	8	9	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	10
Al-Nahda	5	2	5	10	6	3	6	10	11	12	12	11	10	8	7	9	9	9	9	9	11	12	12	11	11	13	12	13	13	11
Al-Nojoom	9	6	6	7	9	9	12	11	10	11	11	14	15	15	13	16	14	11	10	11	13	14	14	12	12	12	11	11	11	12
Al-Mujazzal	16	16	10	13	12	14	10	12	13	14	15	12	11	12	12	13	15	12	11	14	10	10	10	13	13	11	13	12	12	13
Najran	15	12	13	8	10	12	14	13	12	9	6	8	9	7	10	10	11	13	14	15	16	15	16	16	15	16	14	14	14	14
Al-Watani	14	15	16	11	13	8	11	9	8	8	8	9	12	13	14	12	10	10	12	10	12	13	13	14	14	14	15	15	15	15
Jeddah	11	10	15	16	16	16	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	15	15	16	16	16	16	15	16	15	15	16	15	16	16	16	16

	Leader
	Promotion to 2018–19 Saudi Professional League
	Relegation to 2018–19 Second Division

Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2018. Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Results

Home \ Away	HAZ	KAW	KHJ	MUJ	NAH	NOJ	ORO	QAI	SHO	TAI	WAT	WHD	DAM	HJR	JED	NAJ
Al-Hazem		1–1	2–2	4–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	5–2	3–1	2–2	3–0	2–0	0–1	3–0	2–0	2–1
Al-Kawkab	0–1		2–3	4–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	0–1	2–1	0–1	3–0	2–0	1–1	3–3
Al-Khaleej	2–1	0–2		1–0	3–3	2–2	0–0	2–1	3–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–3	5–1	1–1
Al-Mujazzal	0–1	3–2	0–0		6–1	0–0	1–0	1–2	1–4	2–0	1–0	2–2	1–3	1–2	2–0	1–2
Al-Nahda	0–0	3–2	0–1	3–2		2–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–3	1–3	2–2	0–1	1–1	2–1
Al-Nojoom	4–1	3–2	2–2	2–1	0–0		1–1	0–0	1–2	0–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	2–0
Al-Orobah	1–0	0–0	3–2	3–0	1–2	2–2		3–1	3–3	1–0	2–1	3–1	1–1	2–3	1–1	2–2
Al-Qaisumah	1–1	4–6	2–0	2–1	4–1	0–0	4–0		0–1	0–1	2–0	4–3	4–3	1–2	2–2	0–3
Al-Shoulla	0–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–2	0–0	2–2		0–0	2–2	1–2	1–1	3–1	4–3	2–3
Al-Tai	3–1	0–1	0–3	3–1	1–2	5–2	3–0	3–2	5–0		2–2	1–2	3–2	2–0	3–1	4–1
Al-Watani	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–2	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1		1–0	2–2	1–0	2–1	3–1
Al-Wehda	2–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	3–0	1–2	1–0	2–3	2–0	2–0	2–1		3–1	1–1	2–2	3–2
Damac	2–0	1–0	2–2	1–2	0–0	3–0	1–2	6–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	0–2		2–1	4–0	0–1
Hajer	0–0	2–2	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	3–2	0–0	2–2		1–1	1–0
Jeddah	1–3	1–5	1–1	1–2	1–2	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–2	4–0	2–3	2–0	1–2		3–1
Najran	0–2	0–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–2	1–3	2–0	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–4	2–1	4–3

Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2018. Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season progress

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
Al-Hazem	D	D	D	W	D	W	L	D	W	D	W	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	D	L	L	D	W
Al-Kawkab	D	D	D	L	W	L	L	L	W	D	L	W	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	D	W	W	W	L	W	D	W	D	W	D
Al-Khaleej	W	D	L	W	D	D	W	D	W	L	D	L	L	L	D	D	W	W	L	D	W	D	W	L	D	W	W	L	D	L
Al-Mujazzal	L	L	W	L	W	L	W	L	D	L	L	W	W	L	L	D	L	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	D	L
Al-Nahda	D	W	D	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	D	D	W	W	D	D	L	L	D	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	D	L	W
Al-Nojoom	D	W	D	L	D	D	L	W	D	L	D	L	D	D	D	L	D	W	W	D	L	L	L	W	D	D	W	D	D	L
Al-Orobah	W	D	W	W	L	D	L	D	L	W	L	W	L	D	W	D	W	L	L	L	D	L	W	W	D	D	L	D	D	D
Al-Qaisumah	D	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	L	D	L	L	D	W	W	L	W	W	D	L	L	L	W	W	D	L	L	D	L	W
Al-Shoulla	D	W	D	L	D	D	W	W	D	L	L	W	W	D	L	W	D	D	L	W	D	W	W	W	L	L	L	W	L	D
Al-Tai	W	L	W	W	L	W	W	D	D	D	W	L	L	D	W	W	L	L	D	W	L	W	W	D	W	W	W	D	W	L
Al-Watani	L	L	D	W	D	W	L	W	D	D	D	D	L	L	L	D	W	D	L	W	L	D	L	D	L	D	L	L	D	L
Al-Wehda	D	W	D	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	D	W	W	D	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	L	L	W	W	D	D	D	W
Damac	D	L	D	L	L	D	L	D	L	W	W	D	W	L	L	D	D	W	W	L	L	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	W	D
Hajer	D	L	D	L	D	W	W	W	D	W	L	D	W	D	L	L	D	L	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	W	D	W	W	W
Jeddah	D	D	L	L	L	D	W	L	L	D	W	D	L	D	W	L	L	L	D	D	W	L	W	L	D	D	L	L	L	L
Najran	L	D	D	W	D	L	L	D	W	W	W	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	W	D	D	W

Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2018. Source: ^{[citation needed]}
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose

Relegation play-offs

On March 7, 2018, the Saudi Football Federation announced that the number of teams in the Prince Mohammad bin Salman League will be increased from 16 teams to 20 teams. The relegation was removed and in its place, they announced a relegation play-off. The bottom 3 teams will face the 4th place team in each group and the best 5th team in a two-legged match.^[23]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Najran	2–1	Al-Muzahimiyyah	0–0	2–1
Al-Watani	1–2	Abha	1–1	0–1
Jeddah	3–3 (4–1 p)	Al-Taqadom	2–1	1–2 (a.e.t.)

Najran	0–0	Al-Muzahimiyyah

27 April 2018 (2018-04-27)

19:10 UTC+3

Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium, Abha

Referee: Majed Al-Shamrani

Al-Muzahimiyyah	1–2	Najran
Al Mushait 87'	Report	Al Hamsal 9' Al Abbas 51'

11 May 2018 (2018-05-11)

20:45 UTC+3

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh

Referee: Mohammed Al-Hoaish

Najran won 2–1 on aggregate.

---

Al-Watani	1–1	Abha
Saeed 50'	Report	Abo Hathrah 60'

27 April 2018 (2018-04-27)

19:45 UTC+3

King Khalid Sport City Stadium, Tabuk

Referee: Sami Al-Jires

Abha	1–0	Al-Watani
Nasser 61'

4 May 2018 (2018-05-04)

19:10 UTC+3

Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium, Abha

Referee: Majed Al-Shamrani

Abha won 2–1 on aggregate.

---

Jeddah	2–1	Al-Taqadom
Mesawi 1' Omar 24'	Report	Al-Boqami 57'

26 April 2018 (2018-04-26)

20:45 UTC+3

Reserve Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Shehri

Al-Taqadom	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Jeddah
Al-Dossari 35' Al-Harbi 90+3'		Fallatah 90' (pen.)
Penalties
Al-Attas Fayed Al-Boqami	1–4	El-Weshi Al-Suwailem Omar Al-Sayed

4 May 2018 (2018-05-04)

19:15 UTC+3

Al-Najma Club Stadium, Unaizah

Referee: Mohammed Al-Smail

3–3 on aggregate. Jeddah won 4–1 on penalties.

Statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 18 April 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mashari Al-Enezi	Al-Tai	21
2	Saleh Al Abbas	Najran	18
3	Sidevaldo	Al-Mujazzal	17
4	Reda El-Weshi	Jeddah	14
	Haron Eisa	Al-Watani
6	Mohammed Rawaf	Al-Orobah	13
7	Mignane Diouf	Al-Kawkab	12
	Fahad Hadl	Al-Qaisumah
	Ali Khormi	Al-Hazem
	Hassan Sharahili	Damac

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref.
Mignane Diouf	Al-Kawkab	Jeddah	5–1 (A)	11 October 2017
Maher Sharoma	Al-Nojoom	Al-Kawkab	3–2 (H)	2 November 2017
Ali Khormi	Al-Hazem	Al-Qaisumah	5–2 (H)	11 January 2018
Ousmane Barry	Al-Hazem	Al-Nahda	3–2 (H)	3 February 2018
Hassan Sharahili	Damac	Al-Qaisumah	6–1 (H)	11 April 2018
Saleh Al Abbas	Najran	Jeddah	4–3 (H)	18 April 2018

Clean sheets

As of 18 April 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Dawod Al Saeed	Al-Hazem	11
	Abdullah Al-Jadaani	Al-Wehda
	Yahia Al-Shehri	Al-Kawkab
4	Abdulmajeed Al-Thunayan	Damac	7
5	Mohammed Rabee	Al-Orobah	6
	Saeed Al-Harbi	Al-Shoulla
	Abdulaziz Takrouni	Al-Tai
	Mohammed Al-Breh	Al-Qaisumah
9	Fares Al-Shammeri	Al-Mujazzal	5
	Sultan Al-Shammeri	Al-Khaleej

Notes