Al-Ittihad vs Al-Nasr. Will the leader cope with Ronaldo and company?

On Friday, December 6, the King Abdullah Stadium in Jeddah will host a match between Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr as part of the 13th round of the Saudi Arabian Championship.

• Expert Predictions Analysis
• Al-Ittihad vs Al-Nasr facts
• Odds
• Game Totals Prediction

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Al-Ittihad vs Al-Nasr

Al-Ittihad

Laurent Blanc's men continue to hold the lead in the Saudi championship table, with a two-point lead over the current champions, Al-Hilal. In the last round, Al-Ittihad easily dealt with Steven Gerrard's crisis-ridden Al-Ittifaq away - a 4-0 rout. The foreign players N'Golo Kante, Steven Bergwijn, Houssem Aouar and Karim Benzema scored one goal each . The latter returned after an injury and a long "downtime" of several weeks.

Karim's return is very timely, because now Al-Ittihad has a stronger opponent. Against Al-Nasr, Blanc's team needs to show its best sides, one of which is playing in defense. For a month and a half now, Al-Ittihad's opponents have not been able to "unseal" the goal of Serbian goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic.

The fact that Al-Ittifaq is not busy with additional tournaments this season also adds to the chances of the leader of the table in the match with one of the main competitors. The team only plays in domestic competitions.

Al-Nasr

Italian coach Stefano Pioli has yet to find the perfect balance in his new team's play. Al-Nasr occasionally puts in impressive performances, but often "slips", losing vital tournament points.

This is what happened earlier this week, in the Asian Champions League match against Qatari Al-Sadd at home. In it, Al-Nasr lost in the continental tournament for the first time this season – 1:2. And it is hardly a serious excuse for the team that the match was missed by the top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, whom the coaching staff decided to save for the Saudi championship game. Even without the Portuguese, Al-Nasr had enough “aces up their sleeves” to win, but they squandered their chances.

Pioli's men also have far from ideal statistics in the championship. After winning only 2 of the last 5 rounds, Al-Nasr is already 8 points behind the leader Al-Ittihad. The result of the upcoming battle on Friday is all the more important for Ronaldo and company.

Al-Ittihad vs Al-Nasr facts

• Al Ittihad have won their last 10 matches of the season in a row
• Al Ittihad have not conceded a goal in their last 6 games
• Al Nasr have not lost any of their 10 away matches this season, with 8 wins and 2 draws.
• Al Nasr have scored in their last 14 away matches in the Saudi Arabian Premier League

Odds from download 1xbet

The 1xbet bookmaker considers the guests to be a slight favorite in the Saudi Arabian championship match – the odds for Al-Nasr to win are 2.23. While the odds for the victory of the season leader, Al-Ittihad, are 2.95. The bookmaker estimates the probability of a draw at 3.51. Download 1xbet to your phone and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

Laurent Blanc's team has been consistently achieving results in the new season, and the fact that Al-Ittihad is not burdened with playing "on several fronts" only adds to its chances in the match with a problematic, albeit "star" opponent on Friday. We believe that Benzema and company are capable, at the very least, of not losing in a fundamental battle with Ronaldo and Co. The bet on Al-Ittihad - Al-Nasr will be like this - 1X with a coefficient of 1.60. And for more risky players, there is the option of Al-Ittihad winning with a handicap (0). Here the coefficient is more solid - 2.13