AFC Champions League Elite West Round 6

Al Nassr vs Al Sadd

Kick Off:Monday, 2 December 2024 at 6:00 PM UK

Al-Awwal Park

Match Preview

After a 2-0 win against Damac in the Saudi Pro League, Al Nassr are now set to play against Qatari side Al Sadd at Al-Awwal Park on Monday night in the AFC Champions League Elite West. They're aiming to keep their unbeaten streak in the competition going.

While Al Nassr have had a bit of a mixed start to the Saudi Pro League season, they've been absolutely killing it in the AFC Champions League Elite. They've got four wins and one draw under their belt, which puts them in third place overall. The Knight of Najd have been on a scoring spree in this competition, netting 12 goals and conceding just four from five games to rack up 13 points from a possible 15.

Al Sadd have had a great start to the competition, becoming one of only four teams, along with their opponents on Monday, to remain undefeated. The Qatari side have won two away games and drawn another three, which puts them in fifth place in the standings. In their last match against Al Hilal, they played really well and managed to pull off a 1-1 draw.

There are no signs that Cristiano Ronaldo is slowing down after another strong start to the season. He's single-handedly dragging his team to victories. He's on a roll right now, with four goals in four appearances in this competition and a total of 13 goals across all competitions.

Romain Saiss is going to be a key player for the visitors here. He's got the experience and ability to stop the opposition scoring goals thanks to his excellent defensive positioning and defending. The Moroccan international knows some of the Al Nassr players from when he played in Europe, which will be an advantage for the team.

Recent Performance

⁠Al Nassr (in all competitions): WWLWW

Al Sadd (in all competitions): WWDWD

Team News

As it's reported by Saudi media Al-Riyadiya, the team has already nailed the next round of the AFC Champions League and Pioli's planning to give a few key players a break. It's not yet clear whether this is true.

Stefan Pioli's team have a few players who are injured. Defender Simakan picked up a leg injury in the last round of the league, so it's unlikely he'll play. Aymeric Laporte probably won't be in this game because he's not match fit yet, and Sami Al-Najei is still out with a knee injury.

The visitors, Al Sadd, have a fully fit squad, which will be a big boost for Felix Sanchez's side. What they need to worry about is that in the past six times they faced Al Nassrin in the AFC Champions League, they only managed one win, two draws and three losses. Their away winning rate is only 30%. They need to approach this opponent from the same league with a bit more caution.

Possible starting lineups

⁠Al Nassr predicted lineup (4-2-3-1):

Krepski (GK); Al Ghanam, Lajami, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Al Najdi; Alkhaibari, Otavio; Angelo, Talisca, Ghareeb; Ronaldo

Al Sadd predicted lineup (3-4-2-1):

Barsham (GK); Salman, Khoukhi, Saiss; Atal, Meshaal, Camara, Waad; Abdurisag, Gonzalez; Afif