Al Fateh vs Al-Nassr: Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head, telecast

Published at :August 23, 2023 at 3:31 PM

Modified at :January 13, 2024 at 6:15 PM

Al-Nassr will look to win their first match of the season after back to back disappointing results

Al Fateh have started their Saudi Pro League 2023-24 campaign on a good note, out of the two matches that they have played so far they have won one and drawn one. Their next match might be the biggest test till now, they will face Ronaldo and his men in their third league match on Friday. They have signed new players with some experience of playing football before the start of the season yet there is no popular star in Al Fateh.

Al-Nassr was very close on winning the League title last season, they have started their season with two defeats in consecutive matches. Despite all the new signings this season, they have managed to score only one goal and have conceded four goals in two matches. They have added another Portuguese, Otavio, he has played alongside Ronaldo in the World Cup and we can hope that these two might linkup for some goals this season.

Kick-off:

Friday, 25 August 2023 at 7:00 PM BST (11:30 PM IST)

Location: Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium

Form:

Al Fateh (in 2023-24 Saudi Pro League): D-W

Al-Nassr (in 2023-24 Saudi Pro League): L-L

Players to watch:

Lucas Zelarayan (Al Fateh)

Al Fateh signed Zelarayan from Columbus Crew in this transfer window, the Armenian international attacking midfielder has scored 10 goals and made six assists in 20 MLS appearances for Columbus this season. The 31-year-old has scored a staggering 18 goals from outside the box (including free kicks), his shots also have a greater degree of difficulty than other long-range specialists. Zelarayan has already provided one assist in the two matches that he has played so far.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr)

Ronaldo didn’t play the first match of the Saudi League, he returned to the lineup in the 2-0 loss to Al-Taawoun. In the the upcoming match he will look to open his goal scoring account in the 2023-24 season and lead his team to victory. The club captain has a new attacking partner in Mane and if these combine well in this season, they can win the trophy this season which they missed by barely 5 points last season. The most expensive footballer right now has a lot of burden on his shoulders this season after he won the Arab Champions Cup.

Match facts:

Al Fateh is in poor home form while Al-Nassr are performing good at away which means Al-Nassr are heading into this match as favourites.
The last five meetings between Al Fateh and Al-Nassr have always been filled with goals. Al-Nassr has won three out of the last five matches.
The last match was convincingly won by Al-Nassr by the margin of 3-0.

Injury & Team News for Al Fateh and Al-Nassr

Al-Nassr fans have not had the best starting out of the season, David Ospina, their main man in goal has been missing since January due to an elbow injury and has missed almost 30 matches since then. He is a crucial factor in their success and his return is still uncertain, Ospina’s absence might has costed them the League title last season and in the first two matches of the season.

Al Fateh’s orchestrator in midfield is missing since the start of the league, Marwane Saadane, the 31-year-old midfielder has been out since the start of this month. He’s out till September 5th due to Hernia, he contributed in almost every match last season, he scored 4 goals and assisted one goal. His return is what the club and the fans are waiting.

Head to Head

Total Matches – 19

Al-Nassr wins – 12

Al Fateh wins – 2

Draws – 5

Predicted Lineup

Al Fateh predicted lineup (4-2-3-1)

Rinne (GK); A. Al-Yousef, Denayer, Q. Alawjami, A. Al-Zubaidi; Petros, Bendebka; Tello (C), Zelarayan, Batna; F. al Buraikan

Al-Nassr predicted lineup (4-2-3-1)

W. Abdullah (GK); G. Konan, A. Alamri, A. Alawjami, S. Al Ghnam; A. Al Khaibari, S. Fofana; Talisca, Brozovic, Mane; Ronaldo (C)

Match prediction for Al Fateh vs Al-Nassr

With a win probability of 80.00%, it is evident that Al Nassr are clearly the expected winners in this game. Even though Al-Nassr’s record this season is not good compared to that of Al Fateh but the history between the two suggest that Al-Nassr will walk out of the match as victorious. Al-Nassr are way more better on paper than Al Fateh.

Prediction: Al-Nassr 2-1 Al Fateh

Telecast

India – Sony Sports 1 SD & HD, Sony Liv

UK – DAZN, Sky Sports

US – ESPN

Middle East- SSC

Nigeria – Sporty TV

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and join our community on Telegram.