Asian Champions Elite Preview: Al Nassr Riyadh in Top Form Aiming for Consecutive Wins, Al Rayyan Struggles with Away Losses

On October 1st at 2 AM, the second round of the West Asia Zone of the 2024-25 Asian Champions Elite League will see Saudi Arabian team Al Nassr Riyadh host Qatari team Al Rayyan. The two teams have had very different recent experiences, with Al Nassr Riyadh winning consecutively and in top form, while Al Rayyan has suffered consecutive losses, finding themselves in a difficult situation.

Since the start of the new season, Al Nassr Riyadh’s performance has been commendable, except for losing to Al Hilal Riyadh in the Saudi Super Cup final, they have remained undefeated in all other matches. Especially since Italian head coach Pioli took over, Al Nassr Riyadh has consecutively defeated Dammam Khaleej (Saudi League) 3-0, Al Hazem (Saudi King’s Cup) 2-1, and Makkah Ittihad (Saudi League) 2-0, achieving three consecutive victories.

In the first round of the West Asia Zone of the Asian Champions Elite League, Al Nassr Riyadh drew 1-1 away against Baghdad Police. Ronaldo did not travel to Baghdad due to health reasons. Since the start of the new season, Ronaldo has maintained excellent form, playing a total of 9 games (7 for Al Nassr Riyadh, 2 for the Portuguese national team) from August 15th onwards, scoring in 8 of these games, demonstrating his great form.

In addition to Ronaldo, Mane has also shown good competitive form recently. Since Pioli took over, Mane has directly contributed to goals in all three recent games (1 goal, 3 assists). However, according to Pioli’s pre-match statement, the team’s main midfielder Brozovic will continue to be absent due to injury.

Al Rayyan’s recent form has been quite poor, losing 1-3 to Al Hilal Riyadh (Asian Champions Elite), 0-2 to Al Wakrah (Qatar Stars League), and 1-2 to Al Arabi SC (Qatar Stars League) in their last three games, suffering three consecutive losses. Notably, since the start of the new season, Al Rayyan has lost all their away games, including a 0-4 defeat to Al Duhail (Qatar Stars League), a 1-2 loss to Al Gharafa (Qatar Stars League), and a 1-2 defeat to Al Arabi SC (Qatar Stars League).

Al Rayyan’s defensive performance leaves much to be desired, conceding 13 goals in 6 Qatar Stars League games (averaging 2.17 goals conceded per game), and in the Asian Champions Elite League, Al Rayyan conceded 3 goals in their first match. Whether they can stabilize their defense is decisive for Al Rayyan. Former Shandong Taishan player Guedes currently plays for Al Rayyan and has scored 4 goals this season, making him the team’s top scorer. This match will also feature a showdown between Guedes and Talisca, which is another highlight of the game.

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