On Thursday night at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Al Riyadh takes on the cross-town rival Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League in an attempt to avoid relegation.
Going into the penultimate game of the 2023–24 league season, the hosts are now just two points above the dreaded dotted line, while the visitors are expected to finish the season as runners-up for the second consecutive year.
Even if the winners of the championship may have be known, Al Riyadh, Al Tai, Al Akhdoud, and Abha are still in the running to stay in the top division and avoid joining Al Hazem in the Saudi First Division League the next season.
Due to their somewhat superior goal differential, RIY, who are tied with Al Tai on 31 points, are presently atop that list. However, they are far from safe, and a loss here may see them finish the competition in the bottom three, depending on other results.
The team managed by Odair Hellmann missed a fantastic chance to get some breathing room last week when they gave up a late goal to basement team Al Hazem, finishing 1-1 and only two points above the drop.
Even with their current season’s setbacks, Al Riyadh is evidently determined to resist defeat. In their last four games (W1 D3 L0), they have not lost,which is their longest run without defeat in the league this season and also pulled off an against-the-odds victory over Al Ahli during that stretch.
However, they now face the star-studded lineup of Al-Nassr, who beat them by a comfortable 4-1 scoreline earlier in the season. On paper, the hosts are likely to struggle here, and all indicators suggest that their top-flight fate will go down to their final match of the season when they face Al Khaleej.
Al-Nassr, meantime, enters this game fresh off of another epic struggle against their bitter rivals Al-Hilal, which ended in a draw due to a contentious VAR call in the tenth minute of stoppage time.
For the whole ninety minutes, Al-Alami maintained a one-goal advantage over the Blue Waves and appeared to be well on their way to a victory that would have raised spirits. But in the last seconds, VAR referred the match to Spanish referee Jose Maria Sanchez to consider a claim that Sadio Mane had fouled within the Nassr penalty area.
Following a thorough investigation, Mane was found to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area, even though it appeared that the incident was outside the box. Aleksandar Mitrovic then converted the penalty with style to secure a portion of the loot for his side.
The Knights of Najd’s five-game winning streak in all competitions came to an end with that outcome, which also marked their first home loss since they were defeated by Al Raed at the beginning of March.
After the Blue Waves won the league and the Super Cup, Al Nassr will play Al Hilal again in the King’s Cup final at the end of the month. Cristiano Ronaldo and his squad will try to stop their city rivals from winning the domestic treble.
Three players for Al Riyadh are out with injuries, including Knowledge Musona, an important attacking midfielder who has helped the team score six goals this season—four of which he has scored and two of which he has set up.
Due to a ruptured tendon in Alin Tosca’s case and a muscle injury in Saleh Al-Abbas’s case, the players will probably miss the last two games of the season.
Ronaldo will enjoy his chances tonight against one of the poorest defenses in the league. He is presently one goal shy of tying Abderrazak Hamdallah’s record of 34 league goals in a single SPL season.
But the Portuguese sensation will have to do it without the assistance of Mohammed Maran, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, and Talisca, who are all sidelined due to injuries.
In goal, David Ospina, who has been strongly linked to a move out of the Middle East in the off-season, will remain because Waleed Abdullah has just returned from an injury and Nawaf Al-Aqidi is still out.
Al-Shuwayyi, Al Shirekh, Al-Khaibari; Al-Shehri, Toure, Al Rashidi, Al-Harajin; Ndong, Gray are possible starting lineups for Al Riyadh.
Al-Nassr’s potential starting lineup is as follows: Al-Khaibari, Yahya, Otavio, Brozovic, Mane; Ronaldo; Al Ghanam, Alawjami, Laporte, Telles.
We state: 1-3 Al Riyadh Al-Nassr
Although the hosts have demonstrated in recent weeks that they would not easily drop down to the second division, it is unlikely that they will learn anything from their encounter with the Riyadh giants.
We believe Al Nassr will easily win this one, but they will need to keep up their momentum until the King’s Cup final at the end of the month.