Match Preview for Al-Nassr v Al-Ittihad
Will he or won’t he? Will Cristiano Ronaldo end his ‘strike’ at Al-Nassr and play against Al-Ittihad tomorrow or will the Portugal striker, who turned 41 today, make himself unavailable once again?
The story has dominated not just Saudi football but world football over recent days.
To summarise, Ronaldo is unhappy at what he perceives as a lack of investment in Al-Nassr while title rivals Al-Hilal – who are also part-owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) – were this week allowed to sign striker Karim Benzema.
The purchase of former Ballon d’Or winner Benzema was funded by Al-Hilal’s ‘Golden Member’ Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz, who owns 75% of the club and is eager to purchase PIF’s 25%.
Nevertheless, Ronaldo is still furious that Al-Nassr, who sit a point behind table-topping Al-Hilal, were heavily restricted in their January dealings.
The former Manchester United striker was pictured training yesterday but an ESPN report suggested he is set to sit out a second straight game.
Benzema was signed from Al-Ittihad after failing to agree terms on a new contract and they will be the visitors to Al-Awwal Park Stadium tomorrow evening. By then, Al-Nassr could be four points drift with Al-HIlal in action this afternoon.
Without Ronaldo leading the line, Al-Nassr beat Al-Riyadh on Monday, Sadio Mane netting the only goal in the first half.
Al-Ittihad are defending champions but have had a season to forget. Sergio Conceicao’s men are sixth but unbeaten in three.
Team News for Al-Nassr v Al-Ittihad
It wasn’t just Benzema that departed Al-Ittihad this week with midfielder N’Golo Kante moving to Fenerbahce and striker Youssef En-Nesyri coming the other way. En-Nesyri is likely to start on the bench.
Al-Nassr will likely go with the same XI if Ronaldo opts out.
Predicted line-ups for Al-Nassr v Al-Ittihad
Al-Nassr: Bento; Al Ghannam, Simakan, Martinez, Al Nasser; Mane, Angelo, Al Hassan, Yahya; Felix, Ghareeb
Al-Ittihad: Rajkovic; Al Shanqiti, Pereira, Kadesh, Mitaj; Al Ghamdi, Fabinho, Doumbia; Diaby, Aouar, Roger
How to watch Al-Nassr v Al-Ittihad: TV and online streams
Al-Nassr versus Al-Ittihad kicks off at 5.30pm UK time tomorrow night. It is not available to watch on UK TV but can be streamed on the official Pro League channel on YouTube.
