Alright so I figured I’d try my hand at predicting this year’s Saudi First Division, right? Always tricky with smaller leagues, but why not? Let me walk you through how I totally bumbled my way through this mess.
Starting Off Totally Clueless
First thing Monday morning, coffee in hand, I plopped down and fired up the laptop. Went straight to the Saudi FA site. Man, finding stuff there felt like digging through sand. Team lists? Sorta. Past stats? Barely anything useful. Fixtures? Yeah, got those finally. Wrote down all 18 teams:
- Al-Kholood
- Jeddah
- That team with the long name I can’t pronounce… Al-Arabi? See? Already messy.
Noticed a bunch changed coaches this summer. Big red flag. How’s anyone supposed to predict anything when managers keep playing musical chairs?
Wrestling With Numbers
Next step: trying to find out who scored goals last season. Man, what a pain. Ended up clicking through like ten different local news sites – some in Arabic, Google Translate churning out garbage. Found snippets. Like, oh, Al-Orobah’s striker got 15? Maybe? Probably? Who even knows if these stats are real? Felt like I was chasing rumors.
Tried checking transfers. Gave up after 30 minutes. Seriously, it’s easier tracking my kid’s lost socks than figuring out who signed for Al-Batin. Settled for “probable big clubs bought better players.” Solid analysis, right?
The Big “So What?” Moment
Stared at my messy notes:
- Al-Hazem looked strong last year. Kept their coach? Probably.
- Al-Okhdood fell apart late season. New manager now. Dice roll.
- Half the teams I’ve literally never heard of. How’s Al-Jabalain even pronounced?
Scrolled through fan forums on my phone – total chaos. One guy says Al-Faisaly’s keeper is injured. Another calls him a liar. Great sources, people. Just great.
Throwing Down My Guesses
At this point, my coffee’s cold, my head hurts, but I gotta commit. Scribbled down:
- Top Dogs: Probably Al-Hazem? They seemed less bad than others. Al-Qadsiah maybe? Fine.
- Mid-Pack Muddle: Like seven teams here. Al-Arabi, Al-Najma… tossed a coin for sorting.
- Gonna Struggle: Any team with “Al-Adalah” kinda sounds doomed, right? Added them plus a few names I kept mixing up. Feel bad for Al-Sahel.
Highlighted Jeddah and Al-Kholood for promotion playoffs. Pure gut feeling after seeing forum hype. Zero data to back it.
Why This Might Be Nonsense
Let’s be real here. Doing this for Saudi D1 felt harder than predicting the Premier League. Why?
- Stats? What stats?
- News? Scattered like sand in a storm.
- Teams changing constantly? Madness.
- And let’s not even talk about VAR calls or weird ref decisions down there.
Finished typing this up while doubting every single word. This ain’t some fancy analyst report. It’s a guy with a laptop, cold coffee, and too much time on his hands making semi-educated guesses at best. Half expecting Al-Jandal to win the whole thing just to prove me wrong. Check back in May for laughs at how bad this was!
