Seeking their first away victory of 2025, Al-Nassr travel to Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium in Qatif for a date with Al Khaleej on Tuesday.
A 3-0 victory over Al-Orobah this past weekend moved Khaleej up to seventh in the Saudi Pro League table, six points below Al-Alami, who are fourth after playing to a 1-1 draw with Al-Taawoun.
Match preview
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We have witnessed a positive start to 2025 for Al-Khaleej, who have points in consecutive league games, netting multiple goals on both occasions.
Georgios Donis has seen his team win three of their previous four league contests, putting them within three points of the top five.
That triumph this past weekend gave them four at home in this competition, surpassing their total domestically at Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium from a season ago (three).
When netting multiple goals in this competition, Al-Danah have yet to lose this season, claiming maximum points six times when doing so.
Al-Khaleej began the campaign without scoring in their first two league contests at home but have netted a combined 12 times in their previous five domestic affairs.
With 23 points after 15 matches in the Saudi top flight this season, they have accumulated 10 more points than they had at this stage in 2023-24.
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Since December of last year we have seen a drop in form for Al-Nassr, who have claimed just one victory in their last four matches played across all competitions (3-1 over Al-Akhdoud).
As a result they have dropped out of the top four places, which comes with an automatic spot in the AFC Champions League next season.
Stefano Pioli's men are nonetheless just two points behind Al Quadisiya for third, having dropped five points when scoring first in the competition.
Heading into this match, Nadi Al-Shams are winless in back-to-back league games away from home, netting just one goal each time.
After 15 Saudi Pro League matches this season they have picked up 29 points, which is five fewer than they had at this stage of last season.
Al-Nassr have not lost any of their previous six matches versus Al-Khaleej across all competitions, while winning three successive away games against them without conceding.
Team News
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Due to a knee issue, Marwan Al-Haidari is doubtful for Al-Khaleej on Tuesday, as is Abdullah Al-Fahad, who tore a muscle in his adductor area weeks ago.
Goals from Abdullah Al Salem, Fabio Martins and Mohamed Sherif were enough to earn them all three points against Al-Orobah in their previous league fixture.
As for Al-Nassr, Mohamed Simakan could be sidelined for this one with a bruised hip, Ayman Yahya has a leg injury, and Sami Al-Najei is expected to miss another encounter because of a cruciate ligament tear.
Over the weekend, Aymeric Laporte had their only goal as they were able to earn a single point after going behind late in the opening half.
Al Khaleej possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Al Hamsal, Tisserand, Al-Khanrani, Rebocho; Hamzi, Hawsawi; Abdoulshamat, Fortounis, Martins; Al Salem
Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Bento; Al-Ghannam, Simakan, Laporte, Boushal; Brozovic, Al-Hassan, Otavio; Mane, Ronaldo, Gabriel
We say: Al Khaleej 1-2 Al-Nassr
Al Nassr boast plenty of veteran experience that know how to navigate through difficult times, and we believe that leadership will step up when needed on Tuesday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
