Damacvs.Al-Nassr

Luis Castro's side are currently sitting in second place in the league table, while the Dama are set to enter the home fixture in seventh position.

Match preview

After winning eight, drawing six and losing four of their opening 18 league games, Damac were sitting in fifth place and 10 points adrift of Friday's opponents.

However, that gap has grown to 27 points following a poor run of form which has seen Damac record just one victory in eight league matches.

That solitary win took place against Al Wehda on March 7, but since that result, Cosmin Contra's side have gone on to lose consecutive matches against Al-Hilal and Al-Khaleej before playing out a goalless draw with Al-Hazm.

Having failed to score more than one goal in any of their previous eight matches, Damac will be well aware that they need to improve in the final third if they are to halt the slide and better last season's eighth-place finish.

Despite struggling to find their best form in the attacking department, Friday's hosts may feel they have the qualities to negate the league's joint-highest scorers, having conceded just 15 goals in their 13 top-flight home matches - only two teams have let in fewer goals on home turf.

Al-Nassr will carry significant momentum into their upcoming league fixture after winning their last three matches by a combined 14-1 scoreline.

They began that impressive spell of results with a narrow victory over Al-Ahli, before Cristiano Ronaldo netted a second-half hat-trick in a dominant 5-1 victory over Al-Tai.

The Portugal international went on to register another hat-trick on Monday, scoring three goals - including two free-kicks - to help his side ease to a dominant 8-0 away win against relegation-threatened Abha.

Although they have won nine of their last 11 league games, Al-Nassr remain 12 points behind leaders Al-Hilal, who have dropped just four points all season.

Al-Nassr will have the chance to get the better of Al-Hilal in Monday's Super Cup semi-final, but before they can turn their full focus to that fixture, they will attempt to record a fifth consecutive away league victory in Friday's clash with Damac.

Damac Saudi Pro League form:

D

L

W

L

L

D

Al-Nassr Saudi Pro League form:

W

D

L

W

W

W

Al-Nassr form (all competitions):

L

L

L

W

W

W

Team News

Damac midfielder Bader Munshi is set to serve a one-match ban after picking up his fourth yellow card of the Saudi Pro League season.

Domagoj Antolic and Tarek Hamed were both suspended for Monday's draw, but the pair are expected to come back into the starting lineup for Friday's contest.

Abdulaziz Al-Shahrani is in contention for a starting berth after coming off the bench to feature in Damac's last two matches against Al-Khaleej and Al-Hazm.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon the services of Anderson Talisca, who is out for the rest of the season due to a thigh problem.

Al-Nassr are also expected to be without Waleed Abdullah, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Abdulelah Al-Amri and Sultan Al-Ghannam.

Former Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic is likely to be recalled to the starting lineup after missing the win over Abha through suspension.

Damac possible starting lineup:

Zeghba; Solan, Chafai, Bedrane, Al-Anazi; Al-Bishi, Antolic, Hamed, Stanciu, N'Koudou; Al-Shahrani

Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:

Ospina; Boushal, Al-Fatil, Laporte, Telles; Otavio, Brozovic; Mane, Al-Najei, Ghareeb; Ronaldo

We say: Damac 1-3 Al-Nassr

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