Tempers flared on the field the last time Al Nassr played against Al-Ettifaq in the King’s Cup. Al Nassr’s main man Cristiano Ronaldo got involved in a heated verbal exchange with Al-Ettifaq centerpiece Jordan Henderson. Fans could expect similar dramatic moments of sorts, as Al Nassr plays Al-Ettifaq at home on Friday. The upcoming matchup will be Al Nassr’s last against the Dammam-based club for this season. In the first league match of this season, Steven Gerrard and Co. outclassed Ronaldo’s team. Is the Riyadh-based club well-equipped to give it back to its rivals? Let’s see.

Al Nassr has had the better of Al-Ettifaq in the majority of their last few meetings. However, some key players won’t feature for the Riyadh-based club, owing to injuries. On the same topic, Al-Ettifaq too is not an outlier.

Al Nassr vs Al-Ettifaq: expected lineups and injury reports

Al Nassr won’t feature their right-back Nawaf Al-Boushal, as he is still recovering from an injury. Likewise, left-winger Khalid Al-Ghannam is also having physical discomfort, putting his availability for the Al-Ettifaq match in a dubious light. In the absence of these players, Al Nassr’s predicted lineup features Cristiano Ronaldo, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Sultan Al Ghannam, Aymeric Laporte, Ali Lajami, Ayman Yahya, Marcelo Brozovic, Seko Fofana, Sadio Mane, Otavio, and Abdulrahman Ghareeb.

Meanwhile, Al-Ettifaq will miss midfielder Vitinho’s action owing to a tendon injury. Vitinho aside, Al-Ettifaq will feature most of their key players. Here is Al-Ettifaq’s predicted lineup: Paulo Victor, Jack Hendry, Marcel Tisserand, Abdullah Khateeb, Radhi Al-Otaibe, Jordan Henderson, Ali Abdullah Hazazi, Hamdan Al-Shammrani, Robin Quaison, Moussa Dembele, and Georginio Wijnaldum. Now, let us look at both the teams’ recent form and head-to-head stats to see who is better off for the Friday night campaign.

Al Nassr vs Al Ettifaq: H2H stats and predictions

Per the Saudi League standings, Al Nassr is far ahead of Al-Ettifaq. The former is the second in the table and the latter is the eighth. Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. have won four out of their last five league matches. Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard’s side has not tasted victory in their last five games. This tells that the Riyadh-based club is in a better position currently. What do their last 10 meetings tell? Al Nassr has won four matches against Al-Ettifaq in the last 10 meetings. Meanwhile, Al-Ettifaq has won two times. The two teams had to settle for four draws.

These statistics tell that Al Nassr has historically been having an advantage against Al-Ettifaq. Most predictions have Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. winning the match by 2-0. But this is soccer. Steven Gerrard might buck the trend with a win, or the Knights of Najd will carry their winning streak forward. What are your predictions? Tell us in the comments below.

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