Al Nassr v Al Taawoun

Saudi Pro League – Al-Awwal Park Monday 18.30 CET

Team News:

Al Nassr has key winger Sadio Mane back from AFCON.  The home side have a few injury worries. Cristiano Ronaldo could miss out due to fitness issue. Also, doubtful here are Sami Al-Najei and Saqad Haqawi. Two squad members, neither features much so no loss.

Al Taawoun have only a few problems for this one. Flavio is a key man in midfield and will be a loss to the visitors. Attacking midfielder Musa Barrow is also highly likely to be out as his rehabilitation from injury is not complete.

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Formations:

Al Nassr are very fluid in their line ups. Last few matches have seen them alternate between 4-4-1-1 and 4-1-4-1 With Mane back we could even see a return to the 4-4-2. Joao Felix is either behind or alongside Cristiano in which ever way they do line up.

Al Taawoun have basically chopped and changed the formation each match to suit the opposition. While 4-3-3 seems the go to for them earlier in the season, they have lined up in 5 different formations in the last 5 games. Against the big guns they adopted 5-4-1 at Al Ahli and 4-3-3 in narrow one goal losses at Al Ahli and Al Ittihad respectively.

Statistics:

Referee: Majed Al Shamrani (Average cards 4.30 Yellow 0.21 Red per game)

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Match Preview:

Just two points separate the sides going into this game. The home side are hanging onto the tails of Al Hilal and Al Ahli and cannot afford to drop any more points. After a terrible 3 game losing run, they snapped it with back-to-back wins over Damac and Al Shabab. With Cristiano a doubt there is an importance obviously to team news. Al Taawoun is in similar vein of form to the home side. They have struggled against the big guns, and you would expect them to do the same here against a side packed with international superstars.

Betting Preview:

The odds have crashed on the home side with them trading as low as 1.20 in places. On the face of it just a few points separate the teams. Al Taawoun is a decent travelling side too with 6 wins from their 8 games. The visitors with a start on the handicaps is well worth a thought.