Al Nassr vs Al-Okhdood

After being off for the entire month of December, Saudi Pro League football is expected to commence this week with match between Al-Nassr and Al Okhdood scheduled for Thursday evening at the Al-Awwal Park.

Poor results in the last matches of the year 2024 led the hosts set to occupy the 4 th place in the league table while their counterpart climbed three points away from the relegation zone after a win in the last league match of the year.

Al-Nassr will want to start 2025 on a high note after they have lost to Al-Qadsiah and Al Ittihad who are among the title contenders in the two out of the last three games before the league went on a break last month.

In the match against their counterpart owned by PIF, Karim Benzema put Al-Shabab ahead before Cristiano Ronaldo equalized the match for Al-Alami two minutes later, but in the added time, it was Steven Bergwijn who put the People’s Club ahead.

With those objectives now set, the former Real Madrid strike partners have taken their league goal tallies for the campaign to 10, which puts them two behind Al-Hilal forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, the current front runner for the Golden Boot.

Those results also opened a 1-11 lead for the Knights of Najd over the Blue Waves in the league, and a loss to Al Saad on matchday six in the AFC Champions League Elite placed them third in Group B.

As for the team Stefano Pioli, quite logically, are massive favourites to bounce back to winning ways this week, which defeated and scored three goals both at home and away against the above mentioned team last season.

However, Al Okhdood escaped the drop by the skin of their Teeth last season and are once again expected to fight it out for the last places this term unless they are able to turn things round in the second half of the season.

On the last matchday of 2024, the Najran-based team defeated fellow relegation contenders Al Wehda 3-2 to give themselves a three-point lead over the dotted line. To date, they have only managed 12 points in 13 games.

Stjepan Tomas's team has struggled to produce consistent results, though, as they have never won consecutive league games since being promoted to the top division.

However, the visitors' one bright spot is that, over the past few months, they have performed better away from home, taking seven of the previous twelve points available (W2 D1 L1).

Abdullah Al-Khaibari sustained a muscle tear while playing for the national team, which is expected to keep him out of action for up to a month. This was a rather serious blow to Al-Nassr during the break.

Ronaldo is also listed as a doubt due to an abdominal issue, and Al-Khaibari will join longer-term absences Sami Al-Najei (cruciate ligament) and Ayman Yahya (leg) on the sidelines this week.

With three goals in his final five games, Cameroon international Christian Bassogog finished the year well for the visitors and ought to stay at the top of the lineup here with Ibrahima Kone.