Preview: Al-Nassr vs. Al Tai - prediction, team news, lineups

The hosts head into the New Year and their new era sitting one point clear at the top of the table, while Al Tai are down in seventh, eight points behind Thursday's opponents at Mrsool Park in Riyadh.

Match preview

Saudi Arabia's national team may have made headlines at the World Cup in Qatar for their logic-defying victory over Lionel Messi's Argentina in their opening match, but never before will there have been such attention on a domestic match in the country.

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo has now completed his lucrative free transfer to Al-Nassr, being unveiled and taking part in training for the first time on Tuesday.

Whether or not he is thrown straight into the starting lineup remains to be seen given his relative lack of action this season, but it is difficult to envision the 37-year-old not being involved in some capacity.

There is no doubting that the level of the Saudi League will be a step down from what Ronaldo has experienced throughout his long-lasting and illustrious career at the very top level, but that will not diminish his desire for silverware, and he has joined a team in pole position to achieve that this season.

Al-Nassr currently sit one point clear of Al Shabab at the top of the standings, although they have played a game more and, with Al Shabab in action against struggling Al Wehda later in the day, any slip-up could see them knocked off the summit.

Slip-ups have been rare for Al-Nassr so far, though, with Rudi Garcia's side currently on a 10-game unbeaten run in all competitions which includes 23 points from the last 27 on offer in the league.

Thursday's hosts are also already the leading scorers in the division, even before the addition of the highest-scoring footballer in the history of the game.

A 1-0 victory over Al-Khaleej on New Year's Eve got them back to winning ways after being held by Al Hilal on December 26, and since returning from their World Cup break they have won three and drawn one of their four outings.

Al Tai, by contrast, began life after the World Cup with three successive defeats in all competitions, including a penalty shootout defeat to Al Fateh which saw them knocked out of the cup.

That result was sandwiched between back-to-back 2-1 league defeats which extended their losing streak to four, having also been beaten in their final game before the two-month stoppage.

However, they ended 2022 in style with a 4-0 triumph over rock-bottom Al Batin, leaving them on six wins and five defeats from their 11 games this season.

Four of those losses have come in six games away from home, so the prospect of visiting an Al-Nassr side unbeaten in front of their own fans for more than 10 months, and further buoyed by Ronaldo's arrival, is the last thing they need.

Al-Nassr Saudi League form:

Al-Nassr form (all competitions):

Al Tai Saudi League form:

Al Tai form (all competitions):

Team News

All eyes will of course be on Ronaldo and whether he is brought straight into the starting lineup or introduced from the bench.

Ordinarily, new signings may be eased into their new surroundings so soon after their arrival with a substitute appearance to begin with, but this is no ordinary signing and it seems likely that Ronaldo will feature from the off on Thursday.

Perhaps the biggest question will be whether Garcia shuffles his pack away from his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation in order to accommodate for Ronaldo and their other star name attacker, Vincent Aboubakar.

Aboubakar could shift out onto the right of the three behind Ronaldo, with Anderson Talisca - the team's leading scorer this season with nine goals in as many league games - in the middle and Sami Al-Najei on the left.

Other notable names at Garcia's disposal include former Bayern Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo and former Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina.

Suffice to say, Al Tai are unable to match that star power, but they could name an unchanged team following their 4-0 win last time out.

Guy Mbenza and Amir Sayoud were both on the scoresheet in that match to take their tallies for the season up to four apiece in the league, while Dener is just one goal behind from midfield.

Hussain Qasim was taken off at half time against Al Batin, but he is expected to be fit for this one if needed.

Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:

Ospina; Al Ghannam, Al Amri, Gonzalez, Konan; Gustavo, Al Hassan; Aboubakar, Talisca, Al Najei; Ronaldo

Al Tai possible starting lineup:

Braga; Fai, Sultan, Al Jubairi, Qasim; Musona, Semedo, Dener; Sayoud, Mbenza, Harzan

We say: Al-Nassr 4-1 Al Tai

Al-Nassr have already scored four goals in four separate league games this season, and with the addition of Ronaldo - likely from the start in this match - their attacking threat is only going to increase.

It is hard to imagine the former Manchester United man not scoring a shedload of goals in Saudi Arabia, beginning on Thursday, and on such an occasion Al Tai may have to settle with merely making up the numbers.

Couple that with their contrasting home and away records, form and league positions, and there only looks like being one winner in this match.

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