Al Faisaly vs Al Nassr – News and Probable Lineups

Al Faisaly will be looking to extend their unbeaten streak to three matches as they face Al-Nassr at Al Majma’ah Sport City on Friday.

The home side currently finds itself in 14th place in the Saudi Pro League standings, with seven points earned from nine games, while Al-Nassr occupies third position, trailing league leaders Al-Qadsiah by only three points.

Match overview

Al-Faisaly has experienced a challenging start to their season, having secured just a single victory in their first nine matches and managing to score only 10 goals.

Giovanni Solinas’s team went winless in their initial seven games, losing four of those encounters, but they have shown positive developments in recent outings, gathering four points from their last two fixtures.

Having elevated back to the top tier of Saudi football for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign, their main goal is to ensure survival, which makes earning points at home vital.

This season, Al-Faisaly has conceded 17 goals and has not kept a clean sheet in their last three encounters against Al-Nassr.

On a positive note, the hosts can take confidence from previous matches at this ground, having defeated their rivals 2-1 in 2021 and triumphed 3-2 in 2020.

The defending champions of Saudi Arabia have made a strong start to their title defence again, although the race for the top spot will likely be intense this season.

Only three points separate the leading trio, with both Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr having played one match less than Al-Qadsiah, who are currently top of the table.

Al-Nassr remains unbeaten in their last four fixtures, winning three and drawing one, while they have achieved seven wins from their first nine league matches, suffering just one defeat along the way.

Under the management of Ange Postecoglou, the team possesses the joint-best defensive record in the league alongside Al-Hilal, having allowed only seven goals so far and secured clean sheets in their last two games.

The team heads into this clash following a 1-0 victory against Neom, with Joao Felix netting the crucial goal in the second half. However, Al-Nassr will seek to enhance their away performance after only winning two of their four road games.

Team News

Al-Faisaly will be missing centre-forward Ahmed Abdu, who has been out since undergoing knee surgery in August and has missed a total of eight matches.

Midfielder Abdulrahman Al-Safari is also unavailable due to injury and is likely to sit out this game.

On the other hand, the visiting side is also dealing with several absentees, including left winger Abdulrahman Ghareeb and left-back Saleem Al-Najdi, who are recovering from foot and nose injuries, respectively.

Right-back Sultan Al-Ghannam will be a long-term absentee for Al-Nassr as he recovers from a cruciate ligament tear sustained last December.

Kingsley Coman and Mohamed Simakan are doubtful due to hamstring and foot issues, respectively, but Postecoglou has enough depth in his squad to manage these injury challenges.

Al Faisaly probable starting XI:

Pacheco; Barnawi, Bin Subayt, Seck, Al-Shanqiti; Flavio, Girotto, Seoane; Al Bishi, Mendy, Al-Mogren

Al-Nassr probable starting XI:

Bento; Yahya, Martinez, Al-Amri, Boushal; Mane, Angelo, Al-Khaibari, Costa; Ronaldo, Felix

In their recent five encounters with Al-Faisaly, Al-Nassr has secured victory in three, coming into this match in excellent form with three wins and a draw in their last four games.

The home team will aim to unsettle their opponents, but Al-Nassr has sufficient quality and attacking prowess to aim for all three points.