Al-Nassr hit the road to take on Al-Tai at the Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa’ed Stadium in Ha’il in the Saudi Pro League this Friday afternoon.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr will look to make up further ground in the Saudi Pro League title race when they make the trip to Ha’il to face mid-table Al-Tai on Friday.
A Ronaldo-less Al-Nassr safely booked their spot in the Round of 16 of the King’s Cup as they cruised to a comfortable 5-1 win over second-tier opposition Ohod on Monday night. The Knights of Najd took the lead inside 15 minutes through a penalty from Sadio Mane.
But the hosts responded with a finely chipped equaliser from Konrad Michalak deep into first-half stoppage time. However, second-half strikes from Seko Fofana, Anderson Talisca, Ayman Yahya, and Sami Al-Najei saw the Yellows sail quite comfortably through to the next round.
Prior to that, Al-Nassr recorded the most significant result of the Saudi Pro League season so far, coming out on top in a 4-3 thriller against title contenders Al-Ahli last Friday. Other results mean that Al-Nassr have since fallen to fifth in the table. But their recent form is the best of any side in the Saudi Pro League.
After two defeats in the opening two games, the Riyadh-based club have won their last five and are now in fifth place, just three points behind leaders Al-Ittihad. With Ronaldo scoring for fun and grabbing nine goals in his last six league games, Al-Nassr are on fire and will fancy straight-forward three points against a struggling Al-Tai outfit, who come into this off the back of a game against second-tier side Al-Faisaly in the King Cup of Champions the other day.
With seven points picked up from their seven matches, Al-Tai are sitting comfortably in mid-table and have picked up four points from their last three games to distance themselves from the relegation scrap.
The hosts snapped a run of three consecutive defeats by narrowly beating Abha 1-0 at the Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa’ed Stadium on September 1, followed by a drab point in a 1-1 draw against relegation favourites Al-Hazm. They were beaten 4-3 by Al-Ettifaq in their most recent Pro League outing, and have it all to do against a much-superior Al-Nassr.
Team News & Tactics
Al-Tai
The lopsided nature of this fixture was evident even before, and the huge spending seen by the PIF-backed clubs may mean this margin gets even bigger. Al-Tai have nowhere near the financial might of the top clubs, which is reflected in the lack of quality in their starting lineup.
The arrival of Virgil Misidjan from Dutch outfit FC Twente was arguably the most notable signing, as the Dutch winger scored nine Eredivisie goals in helping his club qualify for Europe last season.
For Al-Tai, he has been featured in all of the opening seven league games so far but is yet to score, and his unconvincing displays could see him drop to the bench here at the expense of an extra inner midfielder as head coach Kresimir Rezic looks to solidify his engine room.
Starting centre-back Enzo Roco is a doubt here with injury, so Abdulkarim Sultan and summer signing Robert Bauer are set to start as Al-Tai’s centre-back pairing for this encounter.
Left-back Abdulmohsen Fallatah continues his rehabilitation from a long-term injury. In his absence, Hussain Qassem will continue to operate on the left side of the defence, while Ibrahim Al-Nakhli remains a mainstay on the opposite flank.
Alfa Semedo should start as the holding midfielder for the hosts. Bernard Mensah, who has scored four goals in five league games this season, will also look to provide some explosiveness in attack as well as a keen eye for goal, having bagged a well-taken hat-trick against Al-Ettifaq last time out.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Braga; Al Nakhli, Bauer, Sultan, Qassem; Mohammed, Semedo, Cordea; Al-Shamlan, Mensah, Dugandzic
Al-Nassr
Al-Nassr boss Luis Castro opted to rest superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for the King’s Cup clash against Ohod, which means the Portuguese striker will be fit as a fiddle to start and add to his nine-goal league tally against Al-Tai.
Alongside Ronaldo, Marcelo Brozovic and Sultan Al-Ghannam also missed Monday’s cup game and will come straight back into the starting XI. Brozovic, for one, will be the midfield supremo, playing keep-ball from Tai, with Seko Fofana providing the energy alongside the Croat in the engine room.
Preparing for Friday’s match 💪💛 pic.twitter.com/93tidwUOmy
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) September 27, 2023
Al-Nassr’s attacking quartet will look to show their intent from the onset, dominate opposing defenders, and bombard the opposition box with incessant attacks.
In-form Brazilian attacker Anderson Talisca scored his fourth goal in his last three games across all competitions against Ohod and could keep his place in the attacking midfield role alongside silky Otavio. The deadly strike force of Sadio Mane and Ronaldo remains the main driving force for the visitors’ attack.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Castro will be unable to call upon the services of experienced goalkeeper David Ospina due to a long-term injury. Defenders Aymeric Laporte, Alex Telles, and Nawaf Boushal started against Ohod, with the trio set to be rotated out of the side for the trip to Al-Tai, making way for Ghislain Konan, Mohammed Al-Fatil, and Sultan Al-Ghannam.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Al-Aqidi; Konan, Al-Fatil, Al-Amri, Al-Ghannam; Fofana, Brozovic; Otavio, Talisca, Mane; Ronaldo
Key Stats
- Luis Castro’s side are the in-form outfit in Saudi Arabia’s top flight, and currently boast an eight-match winning run across all competitions.
- Al-Nassr have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven games on the road across all competitions.
- Each of the last five league games of Al-Nassr ended with over 3.5 goals
- Four of the last seven meetings between Al-Tai and Al-Nassr ended with over 3.5 goals.
Player to Watch
Cristiano Ronaldo
Despite recently turning 38 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo is showing no signs of slowing down. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star is the current top scorer in the Saudi Pro League with nine goals from his six Saudi Pro League matches this term, while he has also registered four assists.
He produced yet another clutch performance in Al-Nassr’s thrilling 4-3 victory against title rivals Al-Ahli last Friday night. His two goals were textbook examples of his deadly finishing. Al-Ahli goalkeeper Edouard Mendy may blame the green smoke that had enveloped the penalty area. But Ronaldo’s simple stroked finish was perfect despite an unclear view of the goal.
The Portuguese star later restored his team’s two-goal cushion with another top-class finish. Fed by Anderson Talisca on the edge of the area, he took a touch and then drilled a left-foot shot past Mendy and into the bottom corner.
With the matches coming in thick and fast, Al-Nassr boss Luis Castro did not want to risk his star striker against Ohod, so the Nassr captain will be fresh to add to his tally against Al-Tai this Friday as he looks to propel his team to the top of the Saudi Pro League table.
Prediction
Al-Tai 0-2 Al-Nassr
With the exception of the first two games of the season, the visitors have been in imperious form this season and look to be the team to beat in the Saudi Pro League, with their big-name players starting to have more influence on the proceedings.
The hosts, meanwhile, are on a three-game losing streak in all competitions and were dumped out of the King Cup of Champions by second-tier Al-Faisaly last time out. Putting aside a 4-3 entertainer against Al-Ettifaq, they have found goals very hard to come by, which does not inspire much confidence in their chances here. With all that in mind, The Hard Tackle predicts Al-Nassr will win this one by two unanswered goals to continue their upsurge.