Saudi Pro League - Al-Nassr vs Al-Hilal
Match Time: 18-05-2024 02:00 Saturday (GMT+
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Al-Nassr

Al-Nassr secured their 25th victory of the Saudi Pro League season by defeating Al-Okhdood 3-2 in a tense encounter last week, courtesy of a brace, including a late winning goal from Marcelo Brozovic.

Between the Croatian's goals, Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 33rd league goal of the campaign and 48th of the season - his best tally since the 2015-16 season when he scored a monstrous 51 goals with Real Madrid and earned the Ballon d'Or at the end of the campaign.

Ronaldo is now one goal shy of the all-time record for the most goals scored by a player in a single Pro League season, currently held by Moroccan Abderrazak Hamdallah, who netted 34 times in the 2018-19 edition. With three games remaining in the campaign, it is difficult to imagine he will not at least equal that record.

Despite the Portuguese star's heroics this term, Al-Alami are set to finish as runners-up for the second consecutive season, and while they did beat this opponent to the Arab Club Champions Cup in 2023, it is not considered an official tournament according to FIFA regulations, which takes some of the shine off that achievement.

Al-Nassr's last encounter against Al-Hilal was in the Super Cup semi-final last month, which they lost 2-1 after CR7's frustrations boiled over, leading to him being sent off in the closing stages. Undoubtedly, the Nassr skipper will have that in mind and will be determined to exact his revenge in this one.

Al-Hilal

While it would be easy to criticise and pick out reasons why the Knights of Najd failed to win their first top-flight title since 2018-19, it should not take anything away from the sheer dominance that Al-Hilal have displayed this term.

The champions clinched their record-extending 19th Pro League title with three games remaining, maintaining an unbeaten streak and dropping just four points out of the 91 available up to gameweek 31 when they beat bottom club Al Hazem.

Against the Hazemies, a brace from former Fulham talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic proved decisive. His Serbian teammate Sergej Milinkovic-Savic also found the net, while an own goal from Ahmed Al-Juwaid secured the victory for the Blue Waves.

That result took Hilal back 12 points clear of Nassr with only nine points left to play for and marked their 24th consecutive league win dating back to a 1-1 draw against Damac in mid-September.

Jorge Jesus's side's accomplishments this season underline their status as Saudi Arabia's premier force, and regardless of the outcome here, they are still firm favourites to complete the domestic treble this season when they face this opponent in the King's Cup, which is expected to take place at the end of this month.

Prediction: Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Hilal