Al Nassr will kick off their 2024-25 Saudi Pro League season in midweek, facing Al Raed in Al Awal Park at King Saud University on Thursday night. The hosts finished last season as runners-up with 82 points, while Al Raed ended in 12th place with 37 points.
The home team aims for a more successful season after finishing last term without any trophies and trailing 14 points behind league champions Al-Hilal, who secured the domestic double. On the other hand, Al Raed earned 18 points from 17 away games, including four wins, six draws, and seven losses, scoring 21 goals, the same as sixth-placed Al Ettifaq on the road.
Team Form
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Al Nassr has already faced disappointment this season, suffering a heavy 4-1 defeat to Al-Hilal in the Saudi Super Cup final over the weekend. Cristiano Ronaldo gave Al Nassr an early lead just before half-time. Still, Al-Hilal surged ahead in the second half with goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, and Malcom in 18 minutes. Ronaldo, visibly frustrated, left the pitch and headed to the dressing room without collecting his runners-up medal.
The team will look to overcome this setback and start their league campaign positively, having been unbeaten in their last six home league games from the previous season. Al Raed will come into the match with positive memories of this venue, as they were one of only two teams, along with Al-Taawoun, to secure all three points at Al Awal Park last season.
Karim El Berkaoui, Mohamed Fouzair, and Amir Sayoud secured that victory in March, while Aiman Yahya scored for Al Nassr. Despite this win, Al Raed struggled towards the end of the season, with only three wins from their final 11 matches, drawing five and losing three of the remaining eight games.
Team News and Starting Line-ups
Al Raed will be led by new coach Odair Hellmann, who replaces Igor Jovicevic. Hellmann, formerly with Al-Riyadh and Santos, will be eager to start his tenure with a win against the high-profile Al-Nassr. For Al Raed, new signing Zakaria Hawsawi is the only known injury absentee, still recovering from a knee injury sustained last May.
The home team has no major injuries to start the season and will welcome back Marcelo Brozovic, who missed the Super Cup final due to a suspension. Brazilian forward Talisca, who missed a significant part of last season with a thigh injury, is expected to join Ronaldo and Sadio Mane in attack.
Al Nassr’s possible starting lineup: Bento; Al Ghanam, Alawjami, Laporte, Telles, Al-Khaibari, Otavio, Yahya, Talisca, Mane, Ronaldo.
Al Raed’s possible starting lineup: Sunyur; Al Dossary; Gonzalez, Al Dosari, Al-Jayzani; Fouzair, Hazazi, Normann; Sayoud, El Berkaoui, Al-Ghamd.
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