Is Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Al-Nassr against Al-Khaleej tonight?
Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to start when Al-Nassr play host to Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, November 4. The Knights of Najd will come into the game following a closely fought 1-0 victory over Al-Ettifaq in the Round of 16 of the King's Cup.
The midweek game against Al-Ettifaq went on the way to extra time, with Ronaldo playing the entire 120 minutes. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner, however, did not score a goal. Sadio Mane was the only scorer in the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now gone two consecutive matches without scoring a goal for Al-Nassr. The Portugal skipper, however, should still start and lead his side's attack against Al-Khaleej on Saturday evening.
Al-Nassr have now got a stable set of attacking players in the form of Ronaldo, Mane, Otavio, and Anderson Talisca. Manager Luis Castro has played a 4-2-3-1 formation recently. Talisca and Mane are usually on the flanks with Cristiano Ronaldo leading the attack and his compatriot Otavio supporting in the number 10 position.
Ronaldo has been in outstanding form in his first full season in Saudi Arabia. As things stand, the former Manchester United superstar has netted 14 goals and provided eight assists from 15 games across all competitions.
Al-Nassr picked up a 3-1 win over Al-Fahya in their last league game. Ronaldo did not score on the occasion but did register an assist. His side is currently second in the standings, having picked up 25 points from 11 games. They are seven points behind league leaders Al-Hilal but do have a game in hand.
Al-Khaleej, on the other hand, are languishing in 14th place in the league table, having accumulated 10 points from 11 games. They are currently on a four-match winless run in the Saudi Pro League.
How did Cristiano Ronaldo perform for Al-Nassr against Al-Khaleej last season?
Since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in late December of 2022, he was only able to face Al-Khaleej once in the 2022-23 season. The Real Madrid record goalscorer played the full 90 minutes in his side's 1-1 draw on home soil back in March 2023.
Ronaldo had a decent outing against Al-Khaleej last time around. The Portugal star took a total of eight shots in the game with two of them being on target. He had a total of 53 touches in the 90 minutes he played and ended the game with a pass completion rate of 81 percent.
Ronaldo also created one big chance for his teammates in the game. He, however, did lose possession on 11 separate occasions and was caught offside once.
Al-Nassr ended the 2022-23 season as runners-up in the Saudi Pro League, with Ronaldo scoring 14 goals from 19 matches across all competitions.