Steven Gerrard and Jordan Hendersonand’s Al-Ettifaq suffered a 1-0 defeat at Khalid Al-Shuwayyiand#039;s in front of just 696 fans at King Abdullah Sports City.
Steven Gerrard and Jordan Hendersonand#039; fewer than 700 fans watched Al-Ettifaqi lose 1-0 to Al-Riyadh at the weekend.
This is astonishingly low for the summit, despite Al-Riyadh not being one of the most popular teams in the Saudi Pro League. It was not the first time that Al-Ettifaq had seen such a small crowd.
In September, Abha won 3:1 only 976 fans. In contrast, more people (702) watched Clitheroeand#039;s 2-1 win over Newcastle in the English round of 16 on Saturday. Playing for Al-Ettifaq will be a completely new experience for Henderson, who was used to performing in front of over 50,000 Liverpool fans at Anfield last season. Even away from home, the smallest crowd he would face in the Premier League was Bournemouth’s 10,536.
Other big names in Al-Ettifaq’s squad are also adapting, including former Everton winger Demarai Gray and ex-Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum. They were both in the starting lineup against Al-Riyadh, along with Sweden and Robin Quaison and Scotland and Jack Hendry.
Another experienced striker, Moussa Dembele, is also part of the club but did not play at the weekend. Jesse Lingard has been training with Al-Ettifaq recently, but Gerrard’s side are unable to sign the 30-year-old due to foreign player rules.
The Dammam-based side will have to part with two non-Arab players before January to make room for him. Lingardand’s current financial demands are also higher than what Al-Ettifaq are willing to offer, making it unlikely that the former Manchester United striker will sign a deal, despite featuring for them in a friendly earlier this month and scoring after just four minutes . equivalent
Former Liverpool captain Gerrard expressed his disappointment as Al-Ettifaqand#039’s winning streak stretched to three matches. andquot;We have not shown what is required of us,andquot; he said. andquot;We weren’t at the level we’d like to be. The opposition’s plan was clearly to block and wait for opportunities. Mistakes cost us today, we gave Al-Riad three points.andquot;
Since Gerrardand left Rangers for Aston Villa in November 2021, his reputation as a manager has taken a hit. He was successful at Ibrox, winning the Scottish Premiership and achieving 125 wins in 193 games, but his time at Villa Park was less successful.
After a promising start at Villa, things quickly turned sour between Gerrard and the fans. It led to his dismissal after a 3-0 defeat to Fulham and left Villa 17th in the league.
Unai Emery took over from Gerrard and managed Villa to seventh last season. Liverpool will not feel Henderson’s absence too much in the early months of the new campaign.
Jurgen Klopp fielded a fresh midfield trio against Everton, with Ryan Gravenberch partnering starters Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, while Curtis Jones played in the second game of his three-match home ban.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process of this story.
