Al-Nassr will be looking to return to winning ways in the Saudi Professional League when they go head to head with Damac at the Al-Awwal Park on Friday.
The Global One head into this one fresh off the back of picking up a morale-boosting victory in the AFC Champions League, while the visitors will be looking to secure a third win on the spin for the first time this year.
Match preview
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Al Nassr maintained their fine run of results in the AFC Champions League as they cruised to a 3-1 victory over Qatar-based outfit Al Gharafa at the Al Bayt Stadium on Monday.
In a game where Seydou Sano received his marching orders, Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed two second-half goals, scoring on either side of Angelo's 58th-minute strike to fire the Saudi side to all three points.
Since kicking off the campaign with a somewhat disappointing 1-1 draw against Iranian side Al Shorta on September 16, Al-Nassr have won each of their subsequent four Champions League matches, scoring 11 goals and conceding three in that time.
While Stefano Pioli's men are riding pretty high in the Champions League and sit third in the table, they now turn their focus to the Professional League, where they have struggled to grind out results of late, claiming just one win from their most recent four matches.
Having won their four matches proceeding this run, this slump has coincided with Ronaldo's recent struggles in the league as the 37-year-old has netted just one goal in Al-Nassr's last four Pro League matches.
Al Nassr have picked up 22 points from their 11 matches in the league this season to sit third in the standings, level on points with Al Shabab and Al Qadsiah, and eight points adrift of first-placed Al Ittihad.
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Damac, on the other hand, picked up back-to-back victories for the first time this year as they edged out Al Kholood 2-1 when the two teams squared off at the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium last time out.
Despite playing the final 19 minutes of normal time one man down after Ramzi Sawlan picked up a red card, goals from Georges-Kevin N'Koudou and Farouk Chafai were enough to fire the home side to a hard-fought victory.
Prior to that, Damac secured their first away win of the 2024-25 campaign on November 9, when they defeated Al Wehda 2-1 at the King Abdul Aziz Stadium to end their run of six back-to-back defeats on the road.
Cosmin Contra's men have won four of their 11 league games so far while losing five and claiming two draws to collect 14 points and sit 11th in the standings, level on points with 10th-placed Al Raed.
While Damac will be looking to make it three wins on the bounce this weekend, they go up against an opposing side who have won each of their last six meetings, stretching back to a narrow 3-2 loss in April 2021.
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Team News
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With his brace against Al Gharafa, Ronaldo now has 911 career goals under his belt and the Portuguese forward, who has seven league strikes this season, will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
He should form the attacking quartet with Angelo, Otavio and former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, while Sultan Al Ghanam, Mohamed Simakan, Mohammed Al Fatil and Nawaf Al-Boushail should team up at the defensive end of the pitch once again.
As for Damac, Contra will be unable to name Sawlan this weekend as the 26-year-old forward is suspended after picking up a red card against Al Kholood last time out.
In his absence, 23-year-old Hazzaa Al-Ghamdi should come into the fold, forming the front three with Habib Diallo and Cameroon international N'Koudou, who boasts eight goal contributions in his last eight games.
On the injury front, Damac remain without the midfield duo of Adam Maher and 31-year-old Nicolae Stanciu, who have been sidelined through cruciate ligament and leg injuries respectively.
Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Krepski; Al Ghanam, Simakan, Al Fatil, Al-Boushail; Alkhaibari, Brozovic; Angelo, Otavio, Mane; Ronaldo
Damac possible starting lineup:
Al-Bukhari; S Mohamed, Chafai, Bedrane, Al-Enezi; T Mohamed, Fallatah, Kamano; Al-Ghamdi, Diallo, N'Koudou
We say: Al-Nassr 3-1 Damac
Damac have turned a corner in recent weeks and will head into the weekend looking to make it three wins from three matches. However, Al Nassr go into this one buoyed by their Champions League victory and we are backing them to extend their dominance over the visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
