2020–21 Prince Mohammad bin Salman League

The 2020–21 Prince Mohammad bin Salman League was the fourth season of the Prince Mohammad bin Salman League under its current name, and the 44th season of the Saudi First Division since its establishment in 1976. The season started on 31 October 2020 as a consequence of the postponement of the previous season's conclusion due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] Fixtures for the first half of the 2020–21 season were announced on 3 October 2020.^[2] Fixtures for the second half were announced on 18 January 2021.^[3]

Prince Mohammad bin Salman League

Season	2020–21
Dates	20 October 2020 – 31 May 2021
Champions	Al-Hazem (2nd title)
Promoted	Al-Hazem Al-Fayha Al-Tai
Relegated	Al-Bukayriyah Al-Thoqbah Arar Al-Nojoom
Matches	380
Goals	891 (2.34 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ibrahim Diomandé (24 goals)
Biggest home win	Hajer 8–0 Arar (25 May 2021)
Biggest away win	Al-Khaleej 0–5 Al-Fayha (13 April 2021)
Highest scoring	Hajer 8–0 Arar (25 May 2021)
Longest winning run	8 matches Al-Hazem
Longest unbeaten run	17 matches Al-Fayha
Longest winless run	15 matches Arar
Longest losing run	11 matches Al-Thoqbah
← 2019–20 2021–22 → All statistics correct as of 31 May 2021.

The first team to be promoted was Al-Hazem, following their 4–2 away win against Al-Sahel on 20 April. They set the record for the earliest team to secure promotion with six games remaining as well as most points, most wins and most goals in a season.^[4] On 21 May, Al-Hazem secured their second title following a 1–0 away win against Hajer.^[5] The second team to be promoted was Al-Fayha, following 0–0 home draw with Al-Tai on 20 May.^[6] The final team to be promoted was Al-Tai who were promoted on the final matchday following a 2–0 away win over Arar.^[7]

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2020–21 season.

To MS League Promoted from Second Division Hajer Al-Diriyah Arar Al-Sahel Relegated from Pro League Al-Fayha Al-Hazem Al-Adalah

From MS League Promoted to Pro League Al-Batin Al-Qadsiah Al-Ain Relegated to Second Division Al-Mujazzal Al-Taqadom Al-Ansar Hetten

Teams

A total of 20 teams are contesting the league, including 13 sides from the 2019–20 season, 4 promoted teams from the Second Division and the three relegated sides from the Pro League.

The first club to be relegated to the MS League was Al-Adalah, who were relegated after only a year in the top flight following a 1–1 home draw with Al-Raed.^[8] On 4 September 2020, Al-Hazem became the second club to be relegated, ending a 2-year stay in the Pro League following a 1–0 defeat away to Al-Shabab.^[9] 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.^[10] Al-Fayha were relegated after three years in the Pro League.

The first club to be promoted was Hajer who were promoted following a 1–0 home win against Al-Akhdoud on 13 August 2020.^[11] The second club to be promoted was Al-Diriyah following a 1–1 home draw against Al-Qaisumah on 27 August 2020.^[12] The third club to be promoted was Al-Sahel who were promoted following a 3–0 away win against Al-Suqoor on 28 August 2020.^[13] The fourth and final club to be promoted was Arar who were promoted on the final matchday following a 1–0 away win against Al-Sharq.^[14]

Hajer defeated Al-Diriyah in the final to win their 2nd Second Division title.^[15] Arar defeated Al-Sahel in the third-place playoffs.

Al-Sahel and Arar will play in the Prince Mohammad bin Salman League for the first time in their history. Hajer return after a seasons absence and will play in their 29th overall season in the MS League. Al-Diriyah return to the MS League for the first time since getting relegated in 2015–16 season. They will play in their 4th season in the MS League. Al-Khaleej and Ohod will play in their 30th season in the MS League overtaking Al-Taawoun's record of 29 years in the second tier.

Stadia and locations

Al-Adalah
Al-Jeel
Al-Nojoom
Hajer

Al-Bukayriyah

Al-Diriyah

Al-Fayha

Al-Hazem

Al-Jabalain
Al-Tai

Al-Kawkab
Al-Shoulla

Al-Khaleej

Al-Nahda

Al-Sahel

Al-Thoqbah

Arar

Jeddah

Najran

Ohod

Locations of teams in the 2020–21 MS League

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Al-Adalah	Al-Hasa (Al-Hulaylah)	Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Al-Fateh Club Stadium	26,000[16] 7,000
Al-Bukayriyah	Al Bukayriyah	Al-Bukayriyah Club Stadium	3,000[17]
Al-Diriyah	Diriyah	Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz Stadium (Riyadh)	15,000[18]
Al-Fayha	Al Majma'ah	Al Majma'ah Sports City	7,000[19]
Al-Hazem	Ar Rass	Al-Hazem Club Stadium	8,000[20]
Al-Jabalain	Ha'il	Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium	12,000[21]
Al-Jeel	Al-Hasa (Hofuf)	Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Al-Fateh Club Stadium	26,000 7,000
Al-Kawkab	Al-Kharj	Al-Shoulla Club Stadium	5,200[22]
Al-Khaleej	Saihat	Al-Khaleej Club Stadium	10,000[23]
Al-Nahda	Dammam	Prince Fahd bin Salman Stadium	15,000[24]
Al-Nojoom	Al-Hasa (Al-Shuqaiq)	Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium	26,000
Al-Sahel	Anak	Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium (Khobar)	15,000[25]
Al-Shoulla	Al-Kharj	Al-Shoulla Club Stadium	5,200
Al-Tai	Ha'il	Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium	12,000
Al-Thoqbah	Khobar	Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium	15,000
Arar	Arar	Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Musa'ed Sport City Stadium	5,650[26]
Hajer	Al-Hasa (Hofuf)	Hajer Club Stadium Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium	12,000[27] 26,000
Jeddah	Jeddah	Reserve Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City	1,000[28]
Najran	Najran	Najran Sport City Stadium	18,000
Ohod	Medina	Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Stadium	24,000[29]

Foreign players

The number of foreign players is limited to 4 per team.^[30]

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

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Former Players
Al-Adalah	Everton	Fernando Gabriel	Savvas Gentsoglou	Rédah Atassi
Al-Bukiryah	Abderaouf Natèche	Mamadou Soro	Ward Al Salama	Mehdi Ressaissi	Bader Hassan
Al-Diriyah	Bilel Souissi	Hichem Essifi	Mahmoud Ben Salah	Mohamed Aouichi	Hermann Kouao
Al-Fayha	Soualio Ouattara	Samuel Owusu	Reuben Gabriel	Tunde Adeniji	William Alves Youssef Fouzai
Al-Hazem	Muralha	Karim Yoda	Ousmane Barry	Ibrahima Tandia
Al-Jabalain	Carlão	Diego Miranda	Sidevaldo Pereira [ar]	Ricardo Ribeiro	Edson Cariús
Al-Jeel	Francisco Pereira [ar]	Késsé Amangoua	Marcus Macauley	Mohammed Bassim	Sidevaldo Pereira [ar] Jonathan Béhé
Al-Kawkab	Manucho	Aliou Cissé	Jilani Abdessalam		Izaka Aboudou Youssoupha Mbengué Chaker Rguiî Zied Ounalli
Al-Khaleej	Hacène Ogbi	Rogerinho	Yannick N'Djeng	Samuel Sarfo	Muhanad Madyen
Al-Nahda	Cheibane Traoré	Hachem Abbès	Lassaâd Jaziri	Mossaâb Sassi
Al-Nojoom	Ulysse Ndong	George Akpabio	Ahmed Ben Salah		Lamin Samateh Anthony Bassey
Al-Sahel	Abdoulaye Dieng [ar]	Haythem Mhamdi	Sadok Touj	Mwape Musonda	Patrick Carvalho Ammar Jemal
Al-Shoulla	Lúcio Flávio	Pitty	Sylla Daouda	Piqueti	Junior Mapuku Harmony Ikande
Al-Tai	Daniel Amora	Gbagbo Junior Magbi	Ismail Kouakou	Zied Ounalli	Mohamed Tiaïba Jailson Jorge Fellipe
Al-Thoqbah	Abdelaziz Ali Guechi	Oke Akpoveta	Amir Omrani	Oussema Amdouni	Cosmos Dauda Mohammad Zureiqat
Arar	Carlos Geovane [ar]	Jackson da Silva	Malek Miladi	Zied Ben Salem	Gnamien Gislain Yikpe Udoh Etop
Hajer	Adriano Pardal	Lázaro	Peter Nworah	Oussema Boughanmi
Jeddah	Hamza Aït Ouamar	Ablaye Sy	Mohamed M'Bareck	Saith Sakala
Najran	Carlos Coppetti	Carlos Henrique	Jailson	Yazalde	Gbolahan Salami Jonatas
Ohod	Ibrahim Diomandé [ar]	Zakaria Lahlali	Gbolahan Salami	Abdessalem Hallaoui	Mabrouk Jendli Maher Hannachi

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Al-Hazem (C, P)	38	28	7	3	77	27	+50	91	Promotion to the Pro League
2	Al-Fayha (P)	38	24	9	5	72	27	+45	81
3	Al-Tai (P)	38	23	8	7	58	33	+25	77
4	Al-Jabalain	38	22	10	6	53	27	+26	76
5	Hajer	38	15	10	13	49	37	+12	55
6	Ohod	38	13	15	10	51	52	−1	54
7	Al-Kawkab	38	13	13	12	47	48	−1	52[a]
8	Al-Khaleej	38	13	13	12	42	47	−5	52[a]
9	Al-Shoulla	38	13	12	13	37	33	+4	51
10	Al-Diriyah	38	13	9	16	34	39	−5	48[b]
11	Jeddah	38	13	9	16	48	54	−6	48[b]
12	Al-Adalah	38	10	16	12	44	39	+5	46[c]
13	Al-Sahel	38	11	13	14	34	48	−14	46[c]
14	Al-Jeel	38	11	11	16	37	52	−15	44
15	Najran	38	10	13	15	43	47	−4	43
16	Al-Nahda	38	9	15	14	37	45	−8	42
17	Al-Bukayriyah (R)	38	11	7	20	29	48	−19	40	Relegation to the Second Division
18	Al-Thoqbah (R)	38	10	7	21	45	60	−15	37
19	Arar (R)	38	4	14	20	28	62	−34	26
20	Al-Nojoom (R)	38	6	5	27	27	67	−40	23

Source: goalzz.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) Fair-play points (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).^[31]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Al-Kawkab finished ahead of Al-Khaleej on overall goal difference: Al-Kawkab −1, Al-Khaleej −5 (Al-Kawkab 2–2 Al-Khaleej, Al-Khaleej 0–0 Al-Kawkab).
2. Al-Diriyah finished ahead of Jeddah on overall goal difference: Al-Diriyah −5, Jeddah −6 (Jeddah 1–2 Al-Diriyah, Al-Diriyah 0–1 Jeddah).
3. Al-Adalah finished ahead of Al-Sahel on head-to-head points: Al-Adalah 3–0 Al-Sahel, Al-Sahel 1–2 Al-Adalah.

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	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Al-Hazem	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Al-Fayha	1	9	4	4	4	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Al-Tai	16	17	19	19	20	19	16	16	15	13	10	8	7	8	5	5	4	4	5	5	6	4	4	5	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3
Al-Jabalain	2	2	3	3	2	4	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4
Hajer	9	15	11	11	5	5	7	6	5	6	5	5	4	5	7	6	5	5	4	4	5	6	6	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	5	5	5	5
Ohod	12	8	9	13	10	10	11	12	13	14	15	13	10	12	11	12	11	11	9	11	9	9	9	8	8	8	9	8	6	7	7	7	7	8	9	8	6	6
Al-Kawkab	4	4	6	8	9	9	9	11	12	12	9	9	9	9	10	11	10	10	12	10	12	15	11	10	10	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	6	7	9	7
Al-Khaleej	6	3	5	6	13	14	10	10	7	7	7	7	8	7	6	8	8	8	7	7	4	5	5	6	5	6	6	6	8	8	9	11	8	7	8	6	7	8
Al-Shoulla	17	14	13	15	15	15	15	15	16	17	16	16	17	17	15	15	15	15	16	16	15	13	14	15	13	11	10	10	11	10	10	9	10	9	7	9	8	9
Al-Diriyah	10	11	7	5	6	6	5	5	6	5	6	6	6	6	8	7	7	6	6	6	7	7	8	9	9	10	11	11	10	11	12	12	12	15	15	14	12	10
Jeddah	5	10	15	14	14	11	12	9	11	8	13	11	12	14	14	17	16	16	13	15	16	14	10	13	14	12	12	12	13	12	11	10	11	14	11	11	13	11
Al-Adalah	7	5	2	2	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	6	7	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	9	8	9	9	9	8	8	9	10	10	10	11	12
Al-Sahel	14	12	10	10	12	7	8	7	10	11	11	12	13	10	13	13	13	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	15	16	14	15	15	14	13	14	13	11	13	13	10	13
Al-Jeel	13	7	14	7	8	12	13	13	9	10	14	15	14	15	16	16	14	12	14	12	10	11	12	11	12	15	15	16	16	15	15	15	14	12	12	12	14	14
Najran	18	16	12	12	7	8	6	8	8	9	8	10	11	11	9	10	12	13	15	13	13	10	13	12	11	13	13	13	12	13	14	13	15	13	14	15	15	15
Al-Nahda	8	6	8	9	11	13	14	14	14	15	17	17	16	16	17	14	17	14	10	9	11	12	15	14	16	14	16	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
Al-Bukayriyah	11	13	16	16	16	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	18	17	18	17	18	17	18	17	17	17
Al-Thoqbah	15	20	17	17	17	16	19	17	17	16	12	14	15	13	12	9	9	9	11	14	14	16	17	17	17	18	18	18	17	18	17	18	17	18	17	18	18	18
Arar	20	18	18	18	19	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	19	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19
Al-Nojoom	19	19	20	20	18	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20

	Leader
	Promotion to the Pro League
	Relegation to the Second Division

Updated to match(es) played on 31 May 2021. Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Results

Home \ Away	ADA	BUK	DIR	FAY	HAZ	JAB	JEL	KAW	KHJ	NAH	NOJ	SAH	SHO	TAI	THO	ARA	HJR	JED	NAJ	OHD
Al-Adalah		0–0	0–2	0–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	3–0	1–1	3–1	3–0	3–1	1–1	1–2	0–2	1–1
Al-Bukayriyah	1–1		0–2	0–1	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–1	2–3	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–3	3–2	0–0	0–2	0–2	1–0	2–1
Al-Diriyah	1–0	1–2		2–2	0–1	0–1	2–1	2–2	0–3	1–1	0–2	1–2	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–0	3–0	0–1	0–0	0–0
Al-Fayha	1–0	2–1	2–0		0–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–2	3–1	4–0	3–1	0–0	3–2	4–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	5–2
Al-Hazem	1–4	2–1	2–0	1–0		0–0	4–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	3–1	0–0	1–0	3–1	4–0	2–0	0–1	5–0	0–0	5–1
Al-Jabalain	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–2		1–1	0–0	2–0	0–0	4–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–1	0–1	2–1
Al-Jeel	1–1	0–1	0–1	0–4	1–4	0–1		1–2	3–3	1–0	1–2	3–1	1–0	1–3	0–2	2–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	3–2
Al-Kawkab	1–1	2–1	2–3	2–1	1–1	2–2	1–2		2–2	2–2	2–0	0–0	1–2	1–2	2–0	0–1	1–1	3–2	1–2	1–0
Al-Khaleej	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–5	2–4	1–1	2–2	0–0		1–0	2–1	0–1	1–3	1–0	3–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	3–0
Al-Nahda	1–1	3–2	1–0	0–2	1–2	0–1	2–0	0–1	1–2		2–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	3–2	2–3
Al-Nojoom	1–3	3–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	1–3	0–1		0–1	1–1	0–3	1–3	0–0	0–1	1–2	1–0	1–3
Al-Sahel	1–2	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–4	0–1	1–1	1–3	0–0	2–2	1–0		0–0	0–1	0–0	1–0	4–1	0–2	1–1	1–0
Al-Shoulla	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–2	0–2	1–0	0–0	3–1	0–0	0–1	3–1	5–1		0–2	0–0	3–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–0
Al-Tai	1–3	2–1	3–2	1–0	3–3	1–3	1–0	2–1	3–0	3–1	4–1	2–0	1–0		3–1	0–0	0–2	1–0	0–0	0–0
Al-Thoqbah	1–2	1–2	2–2	0–1	1–2	3–2	1–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	4–0	0–1	2–3	1–2		2–1	2–1	3–1	0–2	2–2
Arar	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–4	1–5	1–2	0–1	0–0	2–3	3–1	1–0	3–2	2–3	0–2	1–1		0–0	1–1	1–1	0–1
Hajer	1–1	3–0	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–2	2–0	3–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	1–2	8–0		2–1	4–3	2–3
Jeddah	2–2	0–1	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–2	1–1	1–2	0–1	2–1	4–1	2–3	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–1		2–2	1–1
Najran	3–2	2–0	0–1	2–2	0–2	1–3	0–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	0–1	2–3		3–3
Ohod	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–5	3–2	1–1	0–0	2–3	4–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–1

Updated to match(es) played on 31 May 2021. Source: goalzz.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

As of 31 May 2021

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[32]
1	Ibrahim Diomandé	Ohod	24
2	Carlão	Al-Jabalain	21
3	Ousmane Barry	Al-Hazem	19
4	Mamadou Soro	Al-Bukayriyah	15
5	Ibrahima Tandia	Al-Hazem	13
	Amir Omrani	Al-Thoqbah
	Karim Yoda	Al-Hazem
8	Everton	Al-Adalah	12
9	Tunde Adeniji	Al-Fayha	11
	Adriano Pardal	Hajer

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref.
Carlão	Al-Jabalain	Najran	3–1 (A)	21 October 2020	[33]
Patrick Carvalho	Al-Sahel	Jeddah	3–2 (A)	3 November 2020	[34]
Everton	Al-Adalah	Al-Tai	3–1 (H)	8 November 2020	[35]
Abdullah Al-Dossari	Al-Fayha	Al-Sahel	4–0 (H)	29 January 2021	[36]
Ibrahim Diomandé	Ohod	Al-Hazem	3–2 (H)	26 February 2021	[37]
Tunde Adeniji	Al-Fayha	Ohod	5–2 (H)	21 March 2021	[38]
Ibrahim Diomandé	Ohod	Al-Nojoom	3–1 (A)	20 May 2021	[39]
Hassan Al-Solan	Hajer	Arar	8–0 (H)	25 May 2021	[40]

Note

(H) – Home; (A) – Away

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Moslem Al Freej	Al-Fayha	18
2	Ricardo Ribeiro	Al-Jabalain	17
3	Saad Al-Saleh	Al-Tai	15
4	Abdulraouf Al-Daqeel	Hajer	14
5	Bandar Al-Butti	Al-Sahel	13
	Dawod Al Saeed	Al-Hazem
7	Bilel Souissi	Al-Diriyah	11
	Abdessalem Hallaoui	Ohod
	Abdulrahman Dagriri	Al-Shoulla
10	Abderaouf Natèche	Al-Bukayriyah	10

Number of teams by region

Rank	Region	Number	Teams
1	Eastern Province	8	Al-Adalah, Al-Jeel, Al-Khaleej, Al-Nahda, Al-Nojoom, Al-Sahel, Al-Thoqbah and Hajer
2	Riyadh	4	Al-Diriyah, Al-Fayha, Al-Kawkab and Al-Shoulla
3	Al-Qassim	2	Al-Bukayriyah and Al-Hazem
	Ha'il		Al-Jabalain and Al-Tai
6	Mecca	1	Jeddah
	Medina		Ohod
	Najran		Najran
	Northern Borders		Arar

See also

• 2020–21 Saudi Professional League
• 2020–21 Saudi Second Division