Preview: Al Riyadh vs. Al-Nassr – prediction, team news, lineups

Al-Nasr will return to winning ways in the Saudi Pro League this week when they make the short trip to the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium to face Al Riyadh on Friday.

Both these teams drew in their last top-flight matches and are aiming to avoid a third straight league game without a win.

Match preview

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It’s fair to say that Al Riyadh have been one of the most improved teams in the Saudi Pro League this season, after finishing last season down in 14th place and just three points above the dotted line.

In just nine games this season, they have already recorded half as many wins as they did in the whole of last term, and a win here could see them finish the weekend in the top five of the league standings.

Notably, of the three defeats Riyadh have conceded in the league campaign, two of them were against high-flying Al-Hilal and Al Ittihad, the latter following two very impressive wins over Al-Qadsiah and Al Okhdood.

But the one area new boss Sabri Lamouchi will look to improve his side’s defensive numbers as they have already conceded 14 goals this season, the most of any side in the top half of the table.

The last time these teams met, Al Riyadh managed to take a point from the match with a 2-2 draw back in May, although they have failed to beat this opponent in their last four attempts (W0 1 L3).

Meanwhile, after bowing out of the King’s Cup with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Al Taawoun, Al-Nassr managed to hold rivals Al-Hilal to a 1-1 draw before beating Al Ain 5-1 in the AFC Champions League in midweek. .

Talisca opened and closed the scoring for Al-Alami in their last game, and has now scored eight goals this season, six of which have come in the league, putting him level with Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese superstar also got on the scoresheet in midweek to take his goals tally to 10 for the season, but he has now failed to score from open play in his last six league games, with each of his three goals in that time coming from the penalty spot.

Since arriving in the Middle East in mid-September, Stefano Pioli has posted a record of four wins and two draws in his first six games, but while his side are still unbeaten this season, they are five points behind in second place due to four draws in their nine games to date.

Still, with 20 goals scored and only 8 conceded, the Knights of Najd are clear favorites in this match and a win here will give them huge momentum ahead of their favorable two-match home leg against Al-Qadsiah and Damac after the international break.

Al Riyadh Saudi Pro League form:

Al-Nassr Saudi Pro League form:

Team news

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The hosts will remain without services from Enzo Rocco for this match, with the centre-back still on the road to recovery from a serious knee injury sustained at the end of last season.

Faiz Selemani contributed to both of his side’s goals against Damac in the last game and will almost certainly retain his place at wing-back, while Bernard Mensah will provide the creative spark from the middle of the park.

Al-Nassr also only have one player suspended due to injury at the moment in the form of Sami Al-Najeiwho is now ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing cruciate ligament surgery.

As mentioned, Talisca has been central to all the positive things Al-Alami has done in recent weeks and will form part of the three-man attack together with CR7 and Sadio Mane.

Al Riyadh possible starting line-up:
Borjan; Selemani, Tambakti, Barbet, Khaibari; Al Subiani, Toze, Kal, Mensah; Bayesh, Al-Aqel

Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Bento; Al Ghanam, Simakan, Laporte, Boushal; Brozovic, Al-Khaibari; Talisca, Otavio, Mane; Ronaldo

We say: Al Riyadh 1-2 Al-Nassr

While Al Riyadh have been very impressive this season, Al-Nassr would have taken a huge confidence boost from their draw against Al-Hilal last week and we feel they will carry that momentum into this game heading into a victory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match, please click here.

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