Fresh off the back of reaching the quarter-finals of the King's Cup, Al-Nassr and Al Khaleej lock horns at the Al-Awwal Park Stadium in round 12 of the Saudi Professional League on Saturday.
Having failed to win both home and away meetings between the sides last season, the Al-Danah will head into the weekend looking to get one over the home side and end their four-match winless run in the league.
Match preview
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Al-Nassr scraped through the round of 16 of the King's Cup on Tuesday as they picked up a 1-0 extra-time victory over Al-Ettifaq when the sides squared off at the Al-Awwal Park Stadium.
In a game where Anderson Talisca and Ali Hazazi received their marching orders, former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane came up clutch for the hosts as he netted the only goal of the game in the 107th minute to dash the hearts of the Commandos.
Al-Nassr have now won four games on the bounce, including a 4-3 victory over Al Duhail in the AFC Champions League, where they currently boast a 100% record and sit at the top of Group E after three matches.
Following Tuesday's result, Luis Castro's men have now gone 15 games unbeaten across all competitions, picking up 14 wins and one draw since suffering successive league defeats against Al-Ettifaq and Al-Taawon back in August.
With 25 points from 11 matches, Al-Nassr are currently second in the Professional League standings, four points behind league leaders Al-Hilal, who are yet to lose a league game this season.
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Like the hosts, Al Khaleej were made to work their socks off in the round of 16 of the King's Cup last Monday when they beat Damac on penalties at the Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium.
Nicolae Stanciu cancelled Woo-Young Jung's 27th-minute opener to take the game to extra time and with nothing to separate the sides after 120 minutes, the game went on to penalties, where the hosts picked up a 6-5 victory.
Manager Pedro Emanuel will hope that Monday's result can serve as a catalyst for a fine run of form as the Al-Danah turn their attention to the Professional League, where they have failed to win their last four matches, losing twice and claiming two draws since a 1-0 victory at Al-Okhdood on September 22.
Al Khaleej have picked up just two wins in their opening 11 league matches while losing five and claiming four draws to collect 10 points and sit 13th in the standings, level on points with Abba and Al-Tai.
While the Saihat outfit will look to build on their cup win and find their feet in the Professional League, next up is the stern challenge of taking on an opposing side who are unbeaten in their most recent three meetings and have lost just one of their eight encounters, claiming four wins and three draws since August 2014.
Team News
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Al-Nassr will take to the pitch without Brazilian forward Talisca, who is currently suspended after picking up a straight red in the cup victory over Al-Ettifaq last Tuesday.
Talisca, who had netted 14 goals in 10 matches prior to Tuesday, has been one of the standout performers for the Z this season, scoring eight of their 31 league goals so far.
With 11 league goals under his belt this season, Cristiano Ronaldo currently leads the way at the top of the Professional League scoring chart and the 38-year-old should spearhead the Al-Nassr attack once again, alongside Otavio and Mane.
On the injury front, Costa will be unable to call upon the services of veteran goalkeeper David Ospina, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury back in January.
As for Al Khaleej, midfielder Mansour Hamzi will play no part in Saturday's game due to suspension after picking up a straight red card against Damac on Monday.
Other than that, we expect Emanuel to name a similar starting XI this weekend, with Mohammed Al-Khabrani and Lisandro Lopez forming the centre-back pairing and Mohamed Sherif, Khaled Narey and Fabio Martins retaining their roles in the final third.
Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Al-Najjar; Alkhaibari, Alamri, Laporte, Telles; Fofana, Al-Khaibari, Ahmed, Otavio, Mane; Ronaldo
Al Khaleej possible starting lineup:
Al-Haidari; Rebocho, Lopez, Al-Khabrani, Hamsal; Jung, Rodrigues; Narey, Abdulelah, Martins; Sherif
We say: Al-Nassr 3-1 Al Khaleej
While Al Khaleej will be looking to get their league campaign up and running, next up is a spirited Al-Nassr who are currently firing on all cylinders. Castro's men have run riot at the attacking end of the pitch, where they have scored the most goals in the league so far (31), and we see them running riot against the visitors who have struggled for consistency this season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
