Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to start when Al-Nassr travel to take on Al-Wehda in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, November 11.
The Knights of Najd come into the game following a 3-2 victory over Al-Duhail in the AFC Champions League in midweek. Ronaldo did not take part in the Champions League game on Tuesday. Club manager Luis Castro decided to rest his superstar forward due to the number of games piling up in the season.
Al-Nassr, however, didn’t miss the services of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner as Anderson Talisca netted a hat-trick in their win against Al-Duhail.
Ronaldo will be fresh and fit to play when his side takes on Al-Wehda on Saturday evening. The Portugal superstar should start and lead his side’s attack with the likes of Sadio Mane, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, and Talisca supporting him.
Al-Nassr are one of the in-form teams in the Saudi Pro League this season and Cristiano Ronaldo has played a huge role in the same. The former Manchester United star has contributed 12 goals and seven assists from 11 games in the league this season.
The Riyadh-based side are currently second in the standings, having accumulated 28 points from 12 games. They are seven points behind league leaders Al-Hilal but do have a game in hand over their undefeated rivals.
Al-Wehda, on the other hand, are eighth in the table and have picked up 16 points from their opening 12 games of the 2023-24 season. Their 2-1 away win against Al-Hazem in their last game was their first win in the league following a four-match winless run.
How did Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo fair against Al-Wehda last season?
Cristiano Ronaldo played against Al-Wehda twice last season, once in the Saudi Pro League and the other being in the semi-finals of the King’s Cup. It was a case of mixed results for the former Real Madrid superstar.
Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes when Al-Nassr traveled to Al-Wehda last season where they registered a 4-0 victory with the star attacker scoring all goals. He scored two goals in the first half and two in the second to score his first hat-trick since moving to Saudi Arabia on a free transfer.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s cup game against Al-Wehda, however, was not fruitful. Al-Nassr suffered a 1-0 defeat on that occasion and exited the tournament at the semi-final stage.
Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes on that occasion as well but failed to make a single goalscoring contribution for his new side.
