The 2022–23 Saudi Pro League (known as the Roshn Saudi League for sponsorship reasons) was the 48th edition of the top-tier Saudi football league, established in 1974, and the 15th edition since it was rebranded as the Saudi Pro League in 2008, Fixtures for the first half of the 2022–23 season were announced on 4 August 2022.
Al-Hilal were the three-time defending champions after winning their recording extending 18th title last season. Al-Adalah, Al-Khaleej, and Al-Wehda join as the three promoted clubs from the 2021–22 Yelo League. They replaced Al-Ahli, Al-Faisaly, and Al-Hazem who were relegated to the 2022–23 Yelo League. The winner will play in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia as the host club.
On 27 May, Al-Ittihad secured their ninth league title, with one game to spare, following a 3–0 away win against Al-Fayha. Al-Batin were the first team to be relegated following a 1–0 defeat away to Al-Ittihad on 23 May. Al-Adalah were the second and final club to be relegated following a 2–0 home defeat to Al-Ettifaq on the final matchday.
Overview Changes On 14 April 2022, the Saudi FF announced that the number of teams in the Pro League 2023–24 season would be increased from 16 to 18 teams. To prepare for this change, only 2 teams would be relegated to the First Division League and 4 teams would be promoted to the Pro League.
Name sponsorship On 23 August 2022, the Saudi Pro League (SPL) announced that they had signed a sponsorship deal with real estate company Roshn. As part of the sponsorship deal, the Saudi Pro League would be known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for the next 5 seasons.
Teams
16 teams are competing in the league – the top 13 teams from the previous season and the 3 teams promoted from the FD League.
Teams who were promoted to the Pro League
All 3 teams were promoted on the final day of the season. Al-Khaleej were promoted and crowned champions following a 0–0 away draw with Najran. Al-Khaleej return to the top flight for the first time since getting relegated in the 2016–17 season. Al-Khaleej will play in their 8th season in the top flight.
Al-Adalah were promoted following a 0–0 draw away to Jeddah. Al-Adalah return to the top flight after an absence of two seasons. Al-Adalah will play in their 2nd season in the top flight.
Al-Wehda were promoted following a 3–0 away win against Al-Diriyah. Al-Wehda will play in the top flight of Saudi football after a season's absence. Al-Wehda will play in their 38th season in the top flight.
Teams who were relegated to the FD League
Al-Hazem were the first team to be relegated following a 5–2 defeat away to Al-Ettifaq on 21 May. Al-Hazem were relegated after just one year in the top flight. This was their second relegation in three years.
Both Al-Ahli and Al-Faisaly were relegated following on the final day of the season. Al-Ahli were relegated for the first time in their history following a 0–0 away draw with Al-Shabab. They have previously competed in every edition of the Saudi Pro League since its inception in 1976–77. This is the first edition of the Pro League in which Al-Ahli will not be featured.
Al-Faisaly were relegated following a 2–1 away defeat to Al-Hilal. Al-Faisaly were relegated after 12 consecutive seasons in the top flight.
Stadiums Note: Table lists in alphabetical order. Team Location Stadium Capacity Abha Abha Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium Al-Adalah Al-Hasa Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Al-Batin Hafar al-Batin Al-Batin Club Stadium Al-Ettifaq Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium Al-Fateh Al-Hasa Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Al-Fayha Al Majma'ah Al Majma'ah Sports City Al-Hilal Riyadh King Fahd International StadiumPrince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium Al-Ittihad Jeddah King Abdullah Sports City Al-Khaleej Saihat Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium Al-Nassr Riyadh Al-Awwal Park Al-Raed Buraidah King Abdullah Sport City Stadium Al-Shabab Riyadh Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium Al-Taawoun Buraidah King Abdullah Sport City StadiumAl-Taawoun Club Stadium Al-Tai Ha'il Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium Al-Wehda Mecca King Abdul Aziz Stadium Damac Khamis Mushait Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium Damac Club Stadium
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (caretaker) (interim) 1 On the back of the strip. 2 On the right sleeve of the strip. 3 On the shorts.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate ofappointment Al-Khaleej Khaled Al-Marzouq End of caretaker period1 June 2022Pre-season Pedro Emanuel 3 July 2022 Al-Wehda Habib Ben RomdhaneEnd of contract Bruno Akrapović 14 June 2022 Abha Martin Ševela28 June 2022 Sven Vandenbroeck 16 July 2022 Al-Ittihad Cosmin Contra Nuno Espírito Santo 4 July 2022 Al-Nassr Miguel Ángel Russo Rudi Garcia 28 June 2022 Al-Raed Yousef Al-Ghadeer Marius Șumudică 30 June 2022 Al-Shabab Marius Șumudică Vicente Moreno 28 July 2022 Al-Tai José Luis Sierra Pepa 19 July 2022 Al-Taawoun Mohammed Al-Abdali End of caretaker period Péricles Chamusca 29 June 2022 Abha Sven Vandenbroeck Sacked 8 October 202214th Roel Coumans 30 October 2022 Al-Wehda Bruno Akrapović Mutual consent 20 October 202212th José Luis Sierra 20 October 2022 Al-Adalah Yousef Al MannaiSacked 22 October 202213th Martin Ševela 23 October 2022 Al-Tai Pepa 22 January 20239th Mirel Rădoi 22 January 2023 Al-Batin Alen Horvat 19 February 202316th Zdravko Logarušić 19 February 2023 Al-Ettifaq Patrice Carteron Mutual consent 26 February 202312th Antonio Cazorla (caretaker) 26 February 2023 Damac Krešimir Režić Sacked 6 March 20239th Cosmin Contra 6 March 2023 Al-Nassr Rudi Garcia Mutual consent 13 April 20232nd Dinko Jeličić (caretaker) 13 April 2023 Al-Hilal Ramón Díaz Resigned 14 May 20234th Emiliano Díaz (caretaker) 14 May 2023 Al-Tai Mirel Rădoi Sacked 18 May 20237th José Pedro Barreto (caretaker) 18 May 2023
Foreign players The number of foreign players was increased from 7 to 8. Clubs can register a total of eight foreign players over the course of the season, but only seven could be named in the matchday squad.
Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window. Players in italics were out of the squad or left the club within the season, after the pre-season transfer window, or in the mid-season transfer window, and at least had one appearance.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 Player 8 Former Players Abha Tayeb Meziani Devis Epassy Felipe Caicedo Saad Natiq Amine Atouchi Dries Saddiki Uroš Matić Saad Bguir Prestige Mboungou Luís Miquissone Al-Adalah Edson Reinaldo Lenis Milan Mijatović Christofer Gonzáles Pedro Eugénio Boris Godál David Tijanić Marcus Antonsson Lautaro Palacios Anderson Plata Mikael Dyrestam Martin Angha Al-Batin Maurício Antônio Sebastián Pedroza Andrés Felipe Roa André Bukia Thibault Peyre Salifu Mudasiru Martín Campaña Renzo López Al-Ettifaq Paulo Victor Vitinho Marcel Tisserand Youssoufou Niakaté Darko Velkovski Robin Quaison Naïm Sliti Berat Özdemir Al-Fateh Sofiane Bendebka Petros Tristan Dingomé Mourad Batna Marwane Saâdane Jacob Rinne Cristian Tello Fran Vélez Alex Valera Christian Cueva Al-Fayha Paulinho Ricardo Ryller Víctor Ruiz Anthony Nwakaeme Aleksandar Trajkovski Milan Pavkov Vladimir Stojković Panagiotis Tachtsidis Al-Hilal Luciano Vietto Michael Gustavo Cuéllar Moussa Marega Odion Ighalo André Carrillo Jang Hyun-soo Matheus Pereira Al-Ittihad Hélder Costa Igor Coronado Marcelo Grohe Bruno Henrique Romarinho Tarek Hamed Ahmed Hegazi Abderrazak Hamdallah Al-Khaleej Sokol Cikalleshi Douglas Friedrich Morato Lucas Souza André Biyogo Poko Izuchuckwu Anthony Pedro Amaral Fábio Martins Djamel Benlamri Brayan Riascos Al-Nassr Pity Martínez Agustín Rossi Luiz Gustavo Talisca Jaloliddin Masharipov Ghislain Konan Cristiano Ronaldo Álvaro González Vincent Aboubakar David Ospina Al-Raed Pablo Santos Júlio Tavares Damjan Đoković Karim El Berkaoui Mohamed Fouzair Silviu Lung Jr. Alexandru Mitriță René Santos Al-Shabab Éver Banega Cristian Guanca Carlos Iago Santos Aaron Boupendza Grzegorz Krychowiak Kim Seung-gyu Santi Mina Al-Taawoun Flávio Mailson Naldo Léandre Tawamba Aschraf El Mahdioui Kaku Álvaro Medrán Al-Tai Amir Sayoud Victor Braga Dener Collins Fai Guy Mbenza Alfa Semedo Adrián Martínez Knowledge Musona Al-Wehda Anselmo Óscar Duarte Jean-David Beauguel Karim Yoda Gerson Rodrigues Fayçal Fajr Munir Mohamedi Alberto Botía Damac Abdelkader Bedrane Farouk Chafaï Hillal Soudani Moustapha Zeghba Bruno Duarte Domagoj Antolić Adam Maher Nono
League table
Positions by round The following table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve the chronological evolution, 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.
Results
Season statistics
Scoring Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Abderrazak HamdallahAl-Ittihad212 TaliscaAl-Nassr203 Odion IghaloAl-Hilal194 Firas Al-BuraikanAl-Fateh175 Cristiano RonaldoAl-Nassr146 Cristian GuancaAl-Shabab13 RomarinhoAl-Ittihad8 CarlosAl-Shabab129 Mohamed FouzairAl-Raed11 Aaron BoupendzaAl-Shabab
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Knowledge Musona Al-Tai Al-Khaleej 3–0 (H) Talisca Al-Nassr Al-Raed 4–1 (A) Cristiano Ronaldo4 Al-Nassr Al-Wehda 4–0 (A) Cristiano Ronaldo Al-Nassr Damac 3–0 (A) Abderrazak Hamdallah Al-Ittihad Al-Fateh 5–1 (A) Karim El Berkaoui Al-Raed Al-Batin 3–1 (H) Mohamed Fouzair Al-Raed Damac 5–0 (H) Aaron Boupendza4 Al-Shabab Damac 4–1 (A) Note (H) – Home; (A) – Away4 Player scored 4 goals
Clean sheets
RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Marcelo GroheAl-Ittihad192 Abdullah Al-MayoufAl-Hilal123 Kim Seung-gyuAl-Shabab114 Paulo VictorAl-Ettifaq105 David OspinaAl-Nassr8 Jacob RinneAl-Fateh Moustapha ZeghbaDamac8 Victor BragaAl-Tai7 Vladimir StojkovićAl-Fayha10 Nawaf Al-AqidiAl-Nassr6 MailsonAl-Taawoun
Discipline
Player
Most yellow cards: 9 Bassam Al-Hurayji (Al-Batin)
Most red cards: 2 Fahad Al-Harbi (Al-Adalah) Sanousi Hawsawi (Al-Ettifaq)
Club
Most yellow cards: 69 Al-Batin
Most red cards: 5 Al-Adalah Al-Taawoun
Attendances By round + 2022–23 Professional League AttendanceRoundTotalAvg. Per Game Round 1 68,851 8 8,606 Round 2 81,053 8 10,132 Round 3 61,568 8 7,696 Round 4 69,264 8 8,658 Round 5 46,341 8 5,793 Round 6 87,515 8 10,939 Round 7 53,182 8 6,648 Round 8 97,330 8 12,166 Round 9 31,208 8 3,901 Round 10 74,917 8 9,365 Round 11 63,815 8 7,977 Round 12 83,926 8 10,491 Round 13 39,356 8 4,920 Round 14 76,291 8 9,536 Round 15 58,047 8 7,256 Round 16 108,962 8 13,620 Round 17 73,027 8 9,128 Round 18 87,064 8 10,883 Round 19 95,271 8 11,909 Round 20 105,196 8 13,150 Round 21 54,975 8 6,872 Round 22 87,747 8 10,968 Round 23 50,441 8 6,305 Round 24 95,356 8 11,920 Round 25 56,457 8 7,057 Round 26 108,922 8 13,615 Round 27 49,987 8 6,248 Round 28 110,428 8 13,804 Round 29 58,492 8 7,312 Round 30 106,265 8 13,283 Total 2,241,254 240 9,339
By team
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Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthGoalkeeper of the MonthRising Star of the MonthReferenceManagerClubPlayerClubPlayer ClubPlayer ClubAugust & September Vicente MorenoAl-Shabab Cristian GuancaAl-Shabab Abdullah Al-MayoufAl-Hilal Nawaf Al-QumairiAl-TaiOctober Luiz GustavoAl-Nassr David OspinaAl-Nassr Firas Al-BuraikanAl-FatehDecember Vuk RašovićAl-Fayha KakuAl-Taawoun Moustapha ZeghbaDamac Nawaf Al-SadiAbhaJanuary Pedro EmanuelAl-Khaleej Salem Al-DawsariAl-Hilal Douglas FriedrichAl-Khaleej Moteb Al-HarbiAl-ShababFebruary Vicente MorenoAl-Shabab Cristiano RonaldoAl-Nassr Marcelo GroheAl-Ittihad Nawaf Al-SadiAbhaMarch Nuno Espírito SantoAl-Ittihad Igor CoronadoAl-Ittihad Saad Al MousaAl-EttifaqApril Mourad BatnaAl-Fateh Nawaf Al-AqidiAl-Nassr Firas Al-BuraikanAl-FatehMay Péricles ChamuscaAl-Taawoun MoratoAl-Khaleej Marcelo GroheAl-Ittihad