In their final domestic home fixture of 2023, Al Ittihad host Al-Nassr for a Boxing Day affair on Tuesday at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah.
The reigning Saudi Pro League champions are down to sixth in the table, losing 3-1 to Al-Raed over the weekend, while Al-Alami are second following a 3-1 victory over Al-Ettifaq.
Match preview
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A lack of discipline cost Al Ittihad again on Saturday, as they have now suffered consecutive league defeats for the first time since May 2022 (two).
Saturday was also their first domestic defeat at home this season, and the first time they lost a league fixture in Jeddah since Al-Hilal beat them 3-1 on matchday 27 in 2021-22.
The club from Jeddah have struggled defensively of late, conceding three or more goals in three of their previous four competitive fixtures.
Past the halfway point of the domestic campaign, Al Ittihad find themselves nine points behind Al-Ahli for third and a place in the AFC Champions League Elite next season.
Marcelo Gallardo has just one victory in four Saudi Pro League matches since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo as manager, with the only triumph for the Argentine coming at home at the end of November (4-2 versus Al-Khaleej).
Al Ittihad are unbeaten in their last six competitive games at home versus Al-Nassr, winning the last three domestic home meetings against them by a combined score of 7-1.
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After beginning this month on a sour note, suffering a 3-0 defeat in the Riyadh Derby versus their bitter-rivals Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr seem to have got their act together, winning two successive domestic fixtures by a combined score of 7-2.
Heading into matchday 18 of their Pro League campaign, Luis Castro's men find themselves 10 points behind Al-Hilal for first in the table but with a game in hand.
With 40 points after 17 domestic encounters, Al-Nassr are two points behind where they were at this same stage a season ago, losing two more games in 2023-24 (three) than they did after 17 domestic contests in 2022-23.
While they possess one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of world football, Castro has got contributions from plenty of sources, with 11 different players finding the back of the net at least once in this competition, two of which have reached double-digits.
Al-Nassr have been held off the scoresheet in only two domestic encounters all season, averaging over 2.5 goals per game to this point of the campaign.
Two of their three defeats in this competition have occurred away from home, while they are winless in their last nine matches in all competitions versus the club from Jeddah.
Team News
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Al Ittihad will be without Madallah Al-Olayan on Tuesday after he was sent off in the 12th minute this past weekend, while Omar Hawsawi and Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti were both out with unknown injuries.
Goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Jadaani is not expected to recover from a cruciate ligament tear until late January, meaning Abdullah Al-Mayouf will likely start between the sticks for this game.
Romarinho had the only strike in their weekend defeat, his third of the campaign, while Karim Benzema, who has nine goals domestically this season, saw his two-game scoring run in all competitions come to an end.
Al-Nassr goalkeeper David Ospina still needs to be registered, though he featured for the Colombian national team recently against Mexico.
Nawaf Boushal was absent in their victory over Al-Ettifaq, and Khalid Al-Ghannam was back on the field after missing time earlier this season because of physical discomfort.
Alex Telles returned from a muscle injury, scoring the opening goal on Friday, Marcelo Brozovic notched his first of the domestic campaign and Cristiano Ronaldo picked up his 17th, moving ahead of Aleksandar Mitrovic for first in the league.
Talisca is the other Al-Nassr player that has reached the double-digit mark for goals in this competition (10), though he has failed to score in five of their last six domestic affairs.
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Al-Mayouf; Al-Sahafi, Felipe, Fabinho, Bamsaud; Kante, Al-Farhan; Romarinho, Al-Ghamdi, Al-Amri; Benzema
Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Al-Aqidi; Al-Ghannam, Lajami, Laporte, Telles; Brozovic, Fofana; Talisca, Al-Najei, Mane; Ronaldo
We say: Al Ittihad 2-2 Al-Nassr
There is a plethora of attacking quality on both sides, and while Al-Nassr are the team in better form, Al Ittihad always seem to be at their best at home against the side from Riyadh.
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