The 12th edition of the Saudi Pro League (SPL) kicked off on Thursday, 22nd August 2019 where 16 competing clubs began a 10-month journey across 240 matches and 30 rounds in hope to achieve their goals and bring success to their supporters. Over 1 million fans have attended the 120 matches at the 12 stadiums across the league, cheering on their teams and sharing the passion of the SPL.

The increased level of competition on the pitch has positively reflected on the league’s standings, whether in the fierce race to the title where only 6 points seprate the top 6 clubs or the clubs fighting to remain in the top-flight. We’ve witnessed all the excitement with 341 goals finding the back of the net so far, with an average of 2.8 goals per match. With the season at the halfway mark, clubs still have 15 games to play between now and May.

Here are the key numbers which shaped success of the first half of the SPL season, both on and off the pitch.

The league is celebrating this achievement, by asking clubs, players, media and fans to share their love of football and what makes #OurLeague special.

General

• 15 – Rounds completed during the first half of the campaign.

• 120 – Fixtures played so far this season. The same number remains in the second half as teams will battle against one another once again as they look to achieve their goals by the end of May.

• 16 – Teams across the Kingdom competing for the title with two teams (Al Adalah and Damac) making their SPL debut.

Attendances and Fans

• 1 million+ - Men, women, boys and girls stood behind their clubs by attending matches throughout the first half of the season.

• 68,500 – Average number of fans attending each matchday round.

• 50,000 – Total number of seats across all stadiums allocated to families to join in the passion and excitement of the SPL, with an average of 16.5% of all seats.

• 2.01 million – Record number of viewers who streamed October’s Riyadh derby between Al Ahli and Al Ittihad on YouTube. The second most-watched game (1.08m) on YouTube also took place this season between Al Ahli and Al Ittihad in the Jeddah derby

On the pitch stats

• 7 – Foreign players permitted to be fielded by each team. The increase from four players a couple of seasons ago led to a massive increase in the league’s competition and quality on the pitch.

• 115+ – Number of international stars playing across SPL’s 16 clubs. These include players who represented their nations on the biggest international stages such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euros, African Cup of Nations and Copa America.

• 40+ – Number of nationalities represented in the league from different continents and countries including Spain, France, Italy, Chile, Brazil, Australia, South Korea, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon and Senegal.

• 15 – Managers from different countries currently at the helm of SPL’s 16 clubs. They bring different schools of thought from countries like Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, Romania. Meanwhile, one Saudi national coach is leading Dammam’s Al Ettifaq this season.

• 2,304 – Total shots on goal, with 46% landing at the back of the net.

• 341 – Goals scored during 120 matches, with an average of 2.8 goals per match. 46.6% came from players’ right-feet compared to 26.8% scored by their left-foot, meanwhile 20.5% headers saw the back of the net. The opening 15 minutes of the match proved popular, with 12.5% of goals being scored, the most compared to any other 15-minute window during the 90 minutes of each match.

• 96949 – Total number of passes (excl. crosses), with an average accuracy of 79.5%.

• 39 – The highest number of yellow cards shown by the referees to a single team (Al Wehda). SPL debutant Al Adalah are a close second with 35 cards.

• 4 – The highest number of red cards received by a team (Al Taawoun). Majmaah’s Al Fayha also had to play with 10 men on 3 different occasions.

Individual stats

• 12 – Number of goals leading top scorer Bafétimbi Gomis (Al Hilal) scored so far. He is followed closely by Moroccan striker Aberrazak Hamdallah (Al Nassr) and Syrian national team captain Omar Al Somah (Al Ahli) with 11 goals each.

• 6 – Same number of assists made by the league’s top 3 assisters. Leading the record is Australian winger Craig Goodwin (Al Wehda), having created 34 chances. He is closely followed by both Portuguese midfielder Arsenio Nunes (Al Fayha) and Dutch attacking midfielder Youssef Al Jabali with 29 chances each.

• 84% – Highest percentage of saves made by Australian veteran goalkeeper Brad Jones (27 saves). He is followed by Algerian national team goalkeeper Mustapha Zeghba (Al Wehda/Damac) with 74.5% and 36 saves, in addition to Saudi goalkeeper Mustafa Malaika with 73.5% and 36 saves.

• 976 – Most passes completed this season by Brazilian midfielder Petros (Al Nassr), followed by fellow Brazilian Sandro Manuel (Al Taawoun) with 871 passes.

• 7 – Most number of yellow cards issued to a player this season. Saudi national Murtadha Al-Burayh (Al Adalah) and Senegal’s Alfred N’Diaye (Al Shabab) share the record.

• 2 – Most number of red cards shown to a player. Ex-Al Taawoun and Al Hilal new joiner Madallah Alolayan and Karam Barnawi (Abha) both claim the record.