Al-Nassr will look to bounce back from an opening-day defeat to Al Etiffaq when they play host to Al-Taawoun on Friday.

The visitors, meanwhile, already have a point on the board after playing out a draw against Al Fateh in their first game of the Saudi Pro League season.

Match preview

Al-Nassr have already claimed silverware this season after beating Al-Hilal 2-1 over 120 minutes of action to win the Arab Club Champions Cup on Friday.

Luis Castro's side had very little time to celebrate their success, as they were back in action on Monday for their opening game of the new Saudi Pro League season against an Al Ettifaq side managed by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard.

While a number of Al-Nassr's high-profile signings were rested due to the short turnaround, Sadio Mane was available to face his former Liverpool teammate Jordan Henderson.

Mane opened the scoring in the fourth minute to give his side a slender half-time lead, but it was Henderson who left with the bragging rights after goals from Robin Quaison and Moussa Dembele condemned Al-Nassr to a 2-1 defeat.

Al-Nassr will return to home surroundings on Friday, and they will have the chance to extend their 14-game unbeaten home run in the Saudi Pro League.

In contrast to their opponents, Al-Taawoun were not involved in the Arab Club Champions Cup, ensuring that they entered the new season with a fresh squad.

After winning their final seven league games of the 2022-23 season, they would have been hoping to pick up where they left off when they began the new campaign with an away fixture against Al Fateh.

Summer signing Andrei Girotto marked his Al-Taawoun debut with a goal, restoring parity in first-half stoppage time after Feras Al-Brikan had opened the scoring, but Pericles Chamusca's side were unable to go on and find a winner in the second period, ensuring that they had to settle for a share of the spoils.

They will head on their travels for another away game on Friday, and they will be looking to replicate the sort of form that saw them finish last season with the second-best away record in the top flight.

Impressively, the visitors have found the net in each of their last 11 away league games since drawing a blank in a 3-0 defeat to Al-Ittihad in December.

Team News

Seko Fofana, Marcelo Brozovic and Alex Telles are all expected to return to the side after being rested for Monday's defeat to Al Ettifaq.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed the league opener through injury, but he is expected to recover in time to start against Al Fateh.

After opening his goalscoring account for his new club, Mane will be looking to find the net once again when he lines up on the left flank for Friday's contest.

As for the visitors, Chamusca could be tempted to select the same side that started the 1-1 draw against Al Fateh.

Girotto will resume his fledgling central defensive partnership alongside Hassan Kadesh, while Mohammed Al-Ghamdi and Muath Faqeehi will feature as the two full-backs.

Leandre Tawamba, who has scored 81 goals in 155 appearances for Al-Taawoun, will operate in the forward line alongside two summer additions Mateus and Ahmed Bahusayn.

Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:
Al-Aqidi; Al- Ghannam, Al-Fatil, Lajami, Telles; Fofana, Al-Khaibari; Talisca, Brozovic, Mane; Ronaldo

Al-Taawoun possible starting lineup:
Mailson; Al-Ghamdi, Girotti, Kadesh, Faqeehi; Flavio, Al-Mahdioui, Medran; Mateus, Bahusayn, Tawamba

We say: Al-Nassr 2-1 Al-Taawoun

Al-Nassr would have been disappointed to begin the new league campaign with a defeat, but with their star names expected to return for Friday's contest, we think that they will have the extra quality required to claim a home win.

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