Al Raed will be looking to pick up back-to-back home wins for the first time this season when they take on Al-Nassr in round six of the Saudi Professional League on Saturday.
Global One men head into the weekend unbeaten in 15 consecutive games against the home side and will journey to the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium looking to extend this dominant run.
Match preview
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Al Raed were denied successive wins for the first time since October 2022 as they were held to a goalless draw by Al-Fayha at the King Salman Sport City Stadium on September 1.
Igor Jovicevic's men were guilty of a lack of sting in front of goal as they failed to pose any threat to the Mills of Sudair's defence before settling for a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Al Raed snapped their five-match losing streak on August 28 when they thrashed Al-Riyadh 3-0 courtesy of a first-half brace from Mohamed Fouzair and Amir Saayoud's 68th-minute strike.
With the draw against Al-Fayha, the Riyadh outfit have now failed to win eight of their last nine matches across all competitions, losing five and claiming three draws since May.
Next up for Al Riyadh is the stern challenge of facing an opposing side who have won each of the last three meetings between the teams and are unbeaten in their last 15, claiming 14 wins and one draw since a 2-1 loss in April 2016.
Al-Nassr, on the other hand, turned in another performance of the highest quality just before the international break as they cruised to a 5-1 victory over Al Hazem on September 2.
In a one-sided affair at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Abdullah Alkhaibari, Otavio, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane all found the back of the net to fire the visitors to all three points.
Luis Castro's men have now won each of their last four matches across all competitions, including a 4-2 victory over Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai in the playoffs of the AFC Champions League qualifiers on August 22.
Having kicked off the season with successive defeats against Al Ettifaq and Al-Taawon, a run of three straight league matches has seen Al-Nassr rise to sixth place in the table, level on nine points with seventh-placed Al-Wehda.
Team News
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Fresh off the back of keeping a second consecutive clean sheet, we expect Al Raed to field an unchanged back four of Khalid Alsubaie, Bander Whaeshi, Oumar Gonzalez and Mohammed Al-Dosari.
Karim El Berkaoui and Amir Saayoud should lead the hosts' attack, while we expect a midfield pairing of Mathias Normann and former Al-Hilal man Mansour Al Bishi once again.
As for Al-Nassr, Costa will be unable to call upon the services of veteran goalkeeper David Ospina, who has been sidelined since January through an injury.
Ronaldo has been on song for the Global One this season and the Portuguese superstar, who has 10 goal involvements in the last three league games, should spearhead the attack once again.
He may be joined in the final third by Ghareeb, Mane and fellow countryman Otavio, while we expect an unchanged centre-back pairing of Aymeric Laporte and 31-year-old Mohammed Al-Fatil.
Al Raed possible starting lineup:
Moreira; Al-Dosari, Gonzalez, Gonzalez, Alsubaie; Fouzair, Al Bishi, Normann, Sunbul; Saayoud, El Berkaoui
Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Al-Aqidi; Al Ghannam, Al-Fatil, Laporte, Konan; Al Khaibari, Brozovic; Ghareeb, Otavio, Mane; Ronaldo
We say: Al Raed 0-3 Al-Nassr
After stumbling into the new season, Al-Nassr have hit their stride in recent weeks and are currently firing on all cylinders. Castro's side take on a floundering Al Raed side who have struggled for results this season and we fancy them to pick up another huge victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
