Two sides who suffered defeats last time out square off in round 22 of the Saudi Pro League as Al Wahda play host to Al-Nassr at the King Abdul Aziz Stadium on Tuesday.
Having lost each of the last three meetings between the two teams, the Knights of Mecca will head into this one looking to get one over the hosts and further dent what has been another disappointing league campaign for the visitors.
Match preview
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Al Wahda were left empty handed once again in their quest to beat the drop as they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Al Kholood when the two sides squared off at the Al Hazm Club Stadium last Saturday.
In an action-packed contest, 26-year-old midfielder Myziane Maolida continued his red-hot form in front of goal as he finished off a well-worked team goal in the 20th minute to inspire the hosts to a nervy victory.
Al Wahda have now lost four games on the bounce and have failed to win any of their last seven outings, suffering six defeats and claiming one draw since kicking off the year with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Al Fateh on January 9.
With the 2024-25 Pro League campaign approaching its business end, Daniel Carreno's men find themselves languishing at the bottom of the table with 13 points from 21 games, four points adrift of Al Raed just above the dotted line.
Al Wahda's struggles at the back has proven to be one of the main factors behind their underwhelming campaign as they have shipped 51 league goals already — eight more than any other side in the division.
On the other hand, Al-Nassr's Saudi Pro League title hopes suffered a crushing blow on Friday when they fell to a 3-2 defeat against Al Ettifaq at the Al-Awwal Park after conceding twice in the final eight minutes of the game.
Following a goalless first half, the game sparked to life after the break as Ayman Yahya and Mohammed Al-Fatil scored either side of Georginio Wijnaldum's 55th-minute equaliser, and after Fatil netted an 82nd-minute own goal to restore parity, Wijnaldum completed the comeback with one minute left in the game.
With Al Ittihad thrashing Al Hilal 4-1 on Saturday to clinch the league title, the Cristiano Ronaldo project has blown up in Al-Nassr's face once again, with the 40-year-old striker failing to deliver any major title since his shock switch to Saudi in January 2023.
While Stefano Pioli's men have crashed out of the 2024-25 King's Cup courtesy of a disappointing 1-0 loss against Al-Taawoun in October, a run of four points from their last three games in the AFC Champions League has seen them fall five points adrift of first-placed Al-Hilal.
Al-Nassr now set their sights on salvaging what is left of the league campaign and finishing in the Champions League qualifying places as they currently sit fourth in the table with 44 points from 21 games, three points off third-placed Al Qadsiah.
Next up is the challenge of an out-of-sorts Al-Wehda side, who have lost each of their most recent three encounters, and have failed to win eight of their 10, losing seven and claiming one draw since November 2019.
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Team News
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Al Wahda remain without the services of 25-year-old midfielder Nawaf Al-Azizi, who has been sidelined since suffering a cruciate ligament injury back in August 2024.
Other than that, the Knights of Mecca will head into Tuesday's clash with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving the Carreno luxury of a relatively full-strength squad at his disposal.
Al-Nassr will have to cope without the services of January signing Jhon Duran, who is currently suspended after picking up a straight red card in the defeat against Al-Ettifaq last time out.
On the injury front, Pioli will be unable to call upon the services of Portuguese midfielder Otavio, who has missed the last two matches since coming off injured against Al Ahli on February 13.
Saudi Arabia international Sami Al-Najei has been ruled out since last August through a cruciate ligament injury and the 28-year-old will play no part in this weekend's clash.
Al Wahda possible starting lineup:
Al-Owisher; Al-Salem, Yamiq, Al-Hafith, Al Muwallad; Bacuna, Cretu; Goodwin, Naji, Amyn; Ighalo
Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Bento; Boushal, Al-Fatil, Laporte, Mohammed; Yahya, Brozovic, Al-Hassan; Mane, Ghareeb, Ronaldo
We say: Al Wahda 0-3 Al-Nassr
With the league currently out of their grasp, Al-Nassr will look to quickly clean the dust off their feet as they set their aim on securing a top-three finish. Al Wahda's form is currently nothing to write home about and we fancy Pioli's men to extend their dominance in this fixture.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
