Preview: Al-Nassr vs Al Draih - prediction, team news, lineups

Al-Nassr Football Club host Diriyah Club at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh on Friday as the Saudi Pro League resumes after the international break.

Ange Postecoglou's reigning champions sit third in the Saudi Pro League table with 16 points from seven matches, two adrift of leaders Al-Hilal, while Bruno Lage's newly-promoted Diriyah occupy eighth spot on 11 points from their maiden Pro League campaign.

Match preview

Al-Nassr opened their title defence with a 3-0 win over Al-Fateh, though that afternoon was soured inside 17 minutes when left-back Saad Al-Nasser limped off with what proved to be a hamstring injury.

Three further league wins followed, away at Al-Riyadh and Al-Ettifaq and at home to Al-Taawoun, before Al-Nassr's unbeaten start ended on September 5, when a George Ilenikhena brace inside the opening 22 minutes earned Al-Ittihad a 2-1 win in Jeddah despite Angelo Gabriel's reply.

Postecoglou's side responded with a 2-1 win over Abha, Cristiano Ronaldo heading the opener, before being pegged back at Al-Khaleej, where Abdullah Al-Hamdan's 72nd-minute strike cancelled out Omar Mascarell's first-half opener to earn a 1-1 draw.

The bigger blow arrived in continental competition, where Al-Nassr were beaten 4-0 by Al-Ain in their AFC Champions League Elite opener, a result that triggered an internal review of Postecoglou's position and a heated press conference in which he defended his captain.

The bigger story since has unfolded away from Al-Nassr entirely: Ronaldo walked out of Portugal's Nations League training camp in Copenhagen on September 30 following a dispute with national-team coach Jorge Jesus over playing time, having been an unused substitute in a win over Norway after being told he would feature.

The Portuguese Football Federation has not confirmed a punishment, though its own disciplinary code allows for a suspension of one to six months for an unauthorised departure from international duty, and Ronaldo said in a statement on October 6 that he accepts he deserves to be sanctioned and does not want any penalty reduced.

He flew back into Riyadh on October 4 and returned to Al-Nassr training the following day, meaning Friday's match will be his first appearance for club or country since the walkout, and comes with his tally stuck on 979 career goals, 21 short of 1,000.

Ronaldo has scored three Saudi Pro League goals from his first seven appearances this season, a modest return by his standards.

Diriyah are competing in the Saudi Pro League for the first time in their history after winning promotion via last season's First Division play-offs, with Bruno Lage brought in during July to oversee the step up after a brief spell under caretaker Khaled Al-Atwi.

Lage, who won the Primeira Liga with Benfica in 2018-19 and has also managed Wolverhampton Wanderers and Botafogo, has guided Diriyah to three wins, two draws and two defeats from their first seven top-flight matches.

Those results have included a 0-1 opening-day loss to Al-Ahli, a 1-1 home draw with Al-Kholood, a 3-0 win away at Al-Ettifaq, a 0-2 home defeat to Al-Qadsiah and a 2-1 win at Al-Fateh, before the most recent match, a goalless draw at home to Abha on September 13.

Darwin Nunez has been central to whatever momentum Diriyah have built, the Uruguay forward arriving on a season-long loan from Al-Hilal in August and scoring three goals in five league appearances since.

Nunez is backed by senior figures including Idrissa Gueye, Chancel Mbemba and Berat Djimsiti, all of whom arrived with Pro League or wider European top-flight experience that newly-promoted sides rarely possess.

Diriyah already have a measure of this fixture after August's King's Cup meeting, when they were thrashed 4-1 at Al-Awwal Park, Oscar Rodriguez's early opener for the visitors forgotten as Joao Felix's double and further goals sent Al-Nassr through to the round of 16.

Lage's side will also know their trip to Riyadh is a reunion of sorts, given their manager shares a nationality with Al-Nassr's captain and watched his new club pushed around by one of Ronaldo's better performances of the season back in August.

Al-Nassr Saudi Pro League form:

Al-Nassr form (all competitions):

Al Draih Saudi Pro League form:

Al Draih form (all competitions):

Team News

Ronaldo trained with the squad for the first time since his Portugal exit on October 5 and is expected to be available, though Postecoglou may manage his minutes given the travel and turmoil of the past fortnight.

Rakan Al-Ghamdi (sprained knee ligament and a cartilage bruise) and Salem Al-Najdi (recovering from nose surgery after an injury against Abha on September 9) remain the club's two longest-term absentees and are not expected to be involved.

Sultan Al-Ghanam has begun the running and jogging phase of his rehabilitation programme in Doha following anterior cruciate ligament surgery.

Saad Al-Nasser returned to full training on October 1 after his hamstring problem, but a first start since the opening weekend looks unlikely this soon, while Kingsley Coman and Abdulrahman Ghareeb have both trained normally since September 30 and are available for selection.

For the visitors, Lage reported no fresh fitness concerns heading into the trip to Riyadh, and Diriyah's defensive spine of Mbemba, Djimsiti and Gueye have featured in the majority of their Pro League matches so far this season.

Nunez is expected to lead the line again having featured in all five of his appearances since joining on loan, with Adil Boulbina and Abdulellah Al-Malki the next most productive attacking options this season on two goals and one goal respectively.

Oscar Rodriguez is serving his suspension following his red card for violent conduct in the defeat to Al-Qadsiah.

Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:

Bento; Al-Boushal, Simakan, Martinez, Al-Amri; Angelo, Samu Costa, Al-Khaibari, Mane; Joao Felix, Ronaldo

Al Draih possible starting lineup:

Vasilj; Al-Faraj, Mbemba, Djimsiti, Al-Sibyani; Gueye, Millot, Al-Malki; Diandy, Boulbina, Nunez

We say: Al-Nassr 3-1 Al Draih

Al-Nassr have already put four goals past this opponent once this season, and a Diriyah side still adjusting to Pro League quality on the road represents a far gentler task than the attacks of Al-Ittihad or Al-Ain that have troubled them lately.

Diriyah have shown they can be resilient, with two draws and a narrow away win in their last four league matches, but Nunez alone is unlikely to be enough to contain a home side desperate to answer questions raised by their continental exit and eager to give Ronaldo a smoother reintroduction than his recent week away suggests is likely.

Expect the trio of Ronaldo, Joao Felix and Sadio Mane to find a way through a defence that has shipped goals in five of Diriyah's seven league matches this season, with the final margin reflecting the gap in squad quality more than it does the visitors' effort.

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