Al-Nassr will be hoping to secure back-to-back wins in the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League when they welcome Al Shabab to Al Awal Park at King Saud University for a matchday four encounter this Tuesday.
The hosts come into this match in 10th place in the league with three points after the first three matches, while the visitors are down in 14th with just two points in the early stages of the season.
Match preview
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Al-Nassr got their season started positively, as they edged out Al Hilal for the Arab Club Champions Cup with a Cristiano Ronaldo goal in extra time despite playing most of the final 20 minutes of the match with nine men.
Thereafter, their form took a notable dip as they squandered an advantage to lose their opening league match of the campaign 2-1 to Al Ittifaq and went on to suffer a 2-0 loss in their first home game against Al Taawoun a week later.
Since then, though, the hosts seem to have refound their rhythm as they secured qualification for the AFC Champions League with a 4-2 win over Shabab Al-Ahli in the playoff round and battered Al Fateh 5-0 on the road last week.
Luis Castro's side won the last league encounter against this opponent 3-2 last season at this venue and are unbeaten in their last four meetings with two wins and two draws, dating back to November 2021.
Al-Nassr ended last season five points behind Al Ittihad and are already six points behind them this term, and the boss will know that his side cannot afford to drop any more points, or they will be faced with a huge mountain to climb early in the season.
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Meanwhile, Al Shabab had another good season last term, posting their second consecutive fourth-placed finish, and they will be desperate to find a way to return to the AFC Champions League qualification places this season.
While under the guidance of Vicente Moreno, the hosts managed 56 points in their 30 matches last season (W17 D5 L8), though they ended the term poorly, suffering four defeats in their final five matches.
Unfortunately for new boss Marcel Keizer, that form seems to have continued this season as he is yet to record a win for his new club following 1-1 draws to Al Okhdood and Damak and a 3-1 loss to Al Wehda in his first three matches in charge.
They now have to go up against an Al-Nassr side that are starting to look very dangerous this season, but if they manage to pull off an upset here, it could be exactly what they need to get their season on track.
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Castro's only injury absentee for this match is goalkeeper David Ospina, who has been out since last season with an elbow injury and is unlikely to return in the near future.
Sadio Mane took his league tally to three goals for the season with a brace in the last match and is now part of a five-way tie in the Pro League's top scorer standings, joined by Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick in the same match.
Fahad Al-Muwallad scored the crucial equaliser coming off the bench against Damac last week, and he will be hoping for a starting 11 place this time.
Mohammed Essa Harbush made an impact after coming on in that match to set up Al-Muwallad for the goal within two minutes of entering the field of play, and he will also be hoping to hear his name called in the starting lineup.
Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Al-Aqidi; Al Ghannam, Al-Fatil, Laporte, Konan; Al Khaibari, Brozovic, Ghareeb, Otavio, Mane; Ronaldo
Al Shabab possible starting lineup:
Kim; Al Yami, Santos, Al-Sharari, Harbush; Al-Ammar, Alqahtani, Cuellar, Banega, Al-Muwallad; Diallo
We say: Al-Nassr 3-1 Al Shabab
While the last few encounters between these sides have been fairly close, the hosts seem to have found their stride in the last couple of weeks while the visitors are still staggering out the blocks. We expect Al-Nassr to secure a comfortable win in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
