The late kickoff on Thursday evening in the Saudi Pro League will see Al-Nassr travel to Najran to face Al Okhdood at the Prince Hathloul Bin Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium.
Al Okhdood enter gameweek 31 above the dotted line by the slenderest of margins, while Al-Nassr are playing to keep the title race alive for at least another couple of days.
Match preview
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After gaining promotion to the Saudi Pro League just last term, Al Okhdood's primary goal this season would likely have been to secure their top-flight status, but they still have plenty of work to do to achieve that target.
Following a torrid run of seven matches without a victory, including six losses and a draw, the club opted to part ways with Martin Sevela on April 17 after just 14 matches in charge and put their survival hopes in the hands of former Damac boss Noureddine Zekri.
The new manager began his tenure with a loss against his former club but did not have to wait long for his first victory, with his current side securing what could turn out to be a vital three points against Abha a week later.
That gave the Najran-based club a two-point buffer above the drop zone, though that was erased last week when they played out a goalless draw away to Al Hazem, while Pitso Mosimane and co picked an against-the-odds 3-1 victory over Al Ittihad last Friday.
Al Okhdood now face an opponent that overcame them 3-0 in the reverse fixture, and another loss here could see them drop to second-last in the table if Abha avoid defeat and Al Tai beat Al Raed later in the weekend.
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Meanwhile, gameweek 30 was bittersweet for Al-Nassr, who secured their AFC Champions League qualification for next season but also saw the title slip almost completely out of their grasp.
Al Hilal won their postponed match from round 28 against Al Ahli to restore their 12-point advantage over the Knights of Najd, and with just four games left to play in the season, the Blue Waves will secure the title this week if they get a point or better against Al Hazem on Saturday afternoon.
Undoubtedly, 2023-24 will go down as a disappointment for Luis Castro's side, who brought in the likes of Sadio Mane, Seko Fofana, Marcelo Brozovic, Aymeric Laporte and Alex Telles this season but look set to come up short for the league title for a second consecutive campaign and only managed to reach the quarter-final of the AFC Champions League.
Still, they will want to finish the campaign on a high and maintain momentum leading up to the King's Cup final, when they will have their last chance to stop Al-Hilal from claiming the domestic treble this season.
Al-Alami picked up three points last week, beating Al Wehda 6-0 at home, with Cristiano Ronaldo headlining the occasion. The Portuguese superstar netted three in the match, marking the 66th hat-trick of his career, taking him 10 clear of Lionel Messi (56).
Team News
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Al Okhdood will be without the services of centre-back Andrei Burca, who was substituted due to a muscle tear just 23 minutes into their win over Abha, and he is likely to see out the remainder of the campaign from the sidelines.
Georgian defender Solomon Kvirkvelia stepped into the backline in the absence of Burca last week and is likely to keep his place alongside Saeed Al-Rubaie in the central defensive pairing, with Hamad Al-Mansour and Awadh Faraj at left and right-back respectively.
Al Nassr have a few absentees for this match, but perhaps the most notable will be that of manager Luis Castro, who is restricted from travelling after undergoing lung surgery last month.
Waleed Abdullah (leg), Talisca (muscle), Abdulrahman Ghareeb (muscle) and Sami Al-Najei will miss this match due to injury, while Nawaf Al-Aqidi is still serving his five-month suspension.
Al Okhdood possible starting lineup:
Vitor; Faraj, Kvirkvelia, Al-Rubaie, Al-Mansour; Al-Habib; Al Zubaidi, Pedroza, Collado, Godwin; Tawamba
Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Ospina; Al Ghanam, Alawjami, Laporte, Telles; Al-Khaibari; Yahya, Otavio, Brozovic, Mane; Ronaldo
We say: Al Okhdood 1-3 Al-Nassr
While six of Al Akhdoud's eight wins this season have come on their home patch, they are expected to struggle against this star-studded Al-Nassr side, who enter this match as massive favourites. The league title is likely to go to Al Hilal this weekend officially, but we feel the Knights of Najd will prolong matters for another couple of days by winning this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
