Thursday, February 13, 2025

Bitesize Prediction: Al Raed vs Al-Nassr – 30/01/25

Tom Dunstan in Betting Promotions 29 Jan 2025

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Competition: Saudi Pro League

Market: Cristiano Ronaldo to score anytime

Odds: 3/5 @ BetUS

Looking to drag themselves into the AFC Champions League spots on Thursday evening, Al-Nassr will travel to a struggling Al Raed.

Starting with the hosts, while some in Al Raed’s camp might have opened up the 2024/25 campaign with their sights set on mounting a genuine top-half charge, Odair Hellmann’s men find themselves at the heart of a real nightmare. Suffering a second-half collapse away at Al Khollod last week as they fell to a 2-1 defeat, the Buraidah-based outfit are scrapping it out at the foot of the Pro League table. Getting the midweek fixtures underway with just their goal difference keeping them out of the drop zone, the former Santos boss has a real job on his hands. Getting the New Year underway with a 2-0 loss at home against Damac, Al Raed have lost each of their previous six consecutive Pro League appearances – a rut that stems back to November 23rd. Falling to a 4-1 drumming against Al-Ittihad earlier in the month, Thursday’s hosts have continued to show some glaring defensive struggles. Shipping 30 Pro League goals this season, Hellmann’s camp hold the third-worst defensive tally among Saudi’s elite.

As for the visitors, while Al-Nassr might have shown some real inconsistencies when opening up the 2024/25 campaign, Stefano Pioli’s side have turned a recent corner. Claiming a 3-1 victory against Al Fateh last weekend, the former AC Milan boss has seen his squad muster 10 points from their previous four Pro League appearances. Opening Thursday’s showdown sat outside the AFC Champions League spots, the Big Yellow will know the importance of avoiding what would be a real banana skin here. Getting the New Year underway with another 3-1 win against Al-Okhdood, Pioli’s men have also suffered just a single competitive defeat on their travels since May 2024. Recording a trio of strikes in three of their previous four Pro League outings, Al-Nassr should be smelling a golden opportunity in midweek. Claiming a 3-1 victory when they travelled to Buraidah last season, they have also won all of their previous eight straight trips to the relegation scrappers. Given what has been a huge recent gulf in class between Thursday’s opponents, it is no surprise that the Saudi giants are pencilled in as a landslide favourite.

Bet: Cristiano Ronaldo 3/5 to score anytime against Al Raed in Thursday’s Saudi Pro League matchup @ BetUS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Dunstan


Formerly of The Independent, Tom has spent the past six years as one of our senior writers and betting experts. Alongside working with numerous publications from across the globe, Tom also graduated from the University of Falmouth in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Digital Media.
Spending almost the past decade working in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, he has also spent time featuring in sports radio. Tom can be followed on Instagram - @iamtomdunstan

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