Al-Nassr vs. Al Wahda: Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

Friday afternoon's Saudi Pro League match between Al-Nassr and Al Wahda will be held at Al Awal Park on the King Saud University campus. The winners of the previous two games will be looking to extend their undefeated streak.

After the season's first four games, the hosts will enter game week five with eight points, while the visitors will start the same week in fourteenth place with four points.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

The Knights of Najd have gotten off to a respectable start in the new league season, with two wins and two draws. However, they are already four points behind the Blue Waves, thanks to Al-Hilal's perfect record.

Despite losing points to Al Raed on the first day of the season and drawing 1-1 with Al Ahli on matchday three, Al Alami has won their last two matches by three goals, defeating Al Fayha and Al Ettifaq.

Following Luis Castro's dismissal last week, Stefano Pioli took over as head coach of Nassr and has already won his first two matches in charge. On Monday night, Nassr defeated Al Hazem away in the round of 32 of the King's Cup.

Nawaf Al-Boushal scored a last-second victory after Basil Al Sayyali had tied the game an hour after Sadio Mane had put his team up 1-0 just before halfway in the previous encounter.

With that win, Al-Nassr extended its unbeaten road streak to three games; now, it must replicate that performance at Al Awal Park, where it has yet to win this season.

Also this week, Al Wahda advanced to the King's Cup quarterfinals, defeating Al Faisaly 1-1 in regulation time before advancing to the next round on penalties.

Following a 1-0 loss to Al Kholood and a 7-1 thrashing by Al Ittihad immediately after the international break, Fursan Mecca almost avoided a third straight defeat with this outcome.

Since joining the club, Josef Zinnbauer has only managed one away league game, which was a loss. However, he worked two road friendlies during preseason, and both games ended in draws.

Last season, Al Wahda were managed by Georgios Donis. They had a dismal away record in the division, finishing with 14 points from 17 games. Their record was four wins, two draws, and eleven losses.

Defeat in their most recent encounter by 6-0 at the hands of Al-Nassr and six consecutive defeats at the hands of the Knights of Najd bode poorly for the new boss's squad in this encounter.

Al-Nassr vs. Al Wahda Team News

Cristiano Ronaldo, the club captain, was benched for last week's King's Cup win over Al Hazem, but Pioli is likely to start the Portuguese superstar in this encounter.

In addition to Mane, who has scored once this season, Talisca, who has scored twice, and Angelo, a young Brazilian who joined from Chelsea in the summer, will likely play in an offensive midfield trio.

The team's centre-back Abdullah Al-Hafith is questionable to travel to Riyadh on Friday after being substituted in the 39th minute midweek due to an injury.

In place of the suspended Bandar Darwish, the starting attack duo of Odion Ighalo and Craig Goodwin—who came off the bench against Al Faisaly—should start this match.

Our Predictions

Al-Nassr to win and over 3.5 goals @ 1.60 on Sky247.ng

Despite Al-Nassr's lacklustre play this season, their track record in this fixture is hard to overlook, and we are confident that the Knights of Najd will cruise to a comfortable victory thanks to their star-studded squad.

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