Al Nassr begin their 2024-25 Saudi Pro League campaign by welcoming Al-Raed at the Al Awal Park on Thursday.
NSSR vs RAE Match Details
Date: Thursday, 22 August 2024
Time: 21:00 (KSA), 23:30 (IST)
Venue: Al Awal Park, Riyadh
NSSR vs RAE Match Preview
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr ended the last term trophyless and finished 14 points away from the top spot accumulated by bitter rivals and winners Al-Hilal. The Blue Waves claimed a domestic double in the past season and started the new campaign with a 4-1 win in the Super Cup final against the Knights of Najd, rubbing more salt in the wound. The Portuguese gave them the lead right before half-time but Jorge Jesus’s side made a remarkable comeback to snatch the victory. Another loss in the Riyadh derby with a title on the line did not sit well for the side desperate to offset the dominance of their rivals in the new season. Al Nassr will wish to recover from the loss quickly by opening the new league campaign with a victory. Luis Castro’s team will be confident of three points having not lost at home in any competition since March. However, Al Nassr’s last defeat at home came against Al Raed whom they face in the opener on Thursday.
Al-Raed’s win at this venue was one of the four victories they managed in away games and among the nine registered in the entire season. Despite being one of only two sides to beat Al Nassr in the Saudi League at home, the team finished a low 12th and five points above the relegation zone. Although Al-Raed remained unbeaten in the final four games of the last season, they only had one win in the closing month. New manager Odair Hellmann will have his work cut out to change the team’s fortunes using his coaching experience with Al Riyadh and even in Brazil with Santos. The only pre-season friendly against Ukrainian outfit Zorya Luhansk ended in a 3-2 defeat leaving the side without any momentum ahead of the league opener. Still, Al-Raed will live by the fact that the hosts are also not in a better place and they took a handsome 3-1 win last time.
NSSR vs RAE Predicted Lineups
Al Nassr
Bento; Al Ghanam, Alawjami, Laporte, Telles; Al-Khaibari, Otavio; Ghareeb, Talisca, Mane; Ronaldo
Al-Raed
Moreira; Al Dossary; Gonzalez, Al Dosari, Al-Jayzani; Fouzair, Hazazi, Normann; Sayoud, El Berkaoui, Al-Ghamd
NSSR vs RAE Dream11 Match Prediction
Al Nassr should start the new Saudi League campaign on a high but Al-Raed are expected to raise a few nerves. We predict a 2-1 win for the Riyadh giants.
NSSR vs RAE Dream11 Top picks
Captain Pick: Cristiano Ronaldo
Vice-captain Pick: Otavio
Our top pick for the NSSR vs RAE Dream11 team is Cristiano Ronaldo who scored a record-breaking 35 goals in the Saudi League last season and has scored twice in as many matches in the Saudi Super Cup.
NSSR vs RAE Dream11 Team Suggestion
GK: Moreira (Cr - 8)
DEF: Al-Dossari (Cr - 7.5), Al-Ghanam (Cr - 8), Telles (Cr - 8)
MID: Otavio (Cr - 8.5), Fouzair (Cr - 9), Sayoud (Cr - 8.5), Talisca (Cr - 8)
FW: Ghareeb (Cr - 7.5), Berkaoui (Cr - 8.5), Ronaldo (Cr - 9)
Vice-captain: Otavio
Captain: Cristiano Ronaldo
