Sundowns defence must guard against dangerous Al Ahli striker Toney

Mamelodi Sundowns defence must rise to the occasion against the threat of experienced Al Ahli striker Ivan Toney when they meet in their Fifa Intercontinental Cup clash at Loftus on Saturday.

Toney, who was with England at the 2026 Fifa World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada, is usually used as the lone striker by coach Marino Pušić.

But he enjoys quality support from Galeno, Saleh Abu Al Shama, Matheus Goncalves, Francisco Trincão and Eduard Spertsyan.

Though Al Ahli have blown hot and cold in the Saudi Pro League so far this season, Toney has been in red-hot form with ten goals and one assist from seven league matches.

“I have been more ruthless in front of goals, before I was not as ruthless like I am now. I started the season well and hopefully I can continue scoring goals and contributing the team,” he said from Loftus on Friday afternoon before they wrapped up their preparations.

Al Ahli forward Ivan Toney does not regret the move from England to Saudi Pro League. WATCH interview➡️➡️➡️ https://t.co/lxVadOj4Wj pic.twitter.com/u2BKvCcg8e

Toney said he has heard a lot about Sundowns and hopefully he would be able to get past Sundowns central defenders like Grant Kekana, Khulumane Ndamane and Malibongwe Khoza.

As part of the defence, Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso also has Fawaaz Basadien, Thapelo Morena, Aubrey Modiba, who have enough Champions League experience.

“I have heard a lot of about this team and that they score a lot of goals. When I walk around, people have said they have won the majority of their games recently.

“That excites me a lot because you want to play against a team like that, hopefully we will be able to damage their defence and score goals against them.”

England head coach Thomas Tuchel excluded Toney from the squad for forthcoming Nations League fixtures against Spain, the Czech Republic and Croatia.

It has been good in Saudi Arabia. We know in life people will always have their opinions but they don’t to me.

“This time around was due to personal reasons. Obviously I want to be around the mix because it’s my job to be performing on the pitch and let the rest take care of itself.

When Toney joined Al Ahli from Brentford in 2024, there was a lot of criticism, but he does not have any regrets.