Preview: Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami - prediction, team news, lineups

Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr face Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in the Riyadh Season Cup in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

It was set to be the first time the two players have faced off since leaving Europe in what has been dubbed the final meeting between the two finest footballers of a generation, but an injury looks set to rule Ronaldo out of proceedings.

Match preview

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This will be Al-Nassr's first outing in the mini competition, which also involves their Saudi title rivals Al Hilal, who faced the MLS side on Monday night.

In a thrilling encounter, Al Hilal eventually came out 4-3 winners thanks to a late winner from Malcom, to give them the upper hand in this mid-season friendly tournament.

The two Saudi clubs will face off on February 8, which could prove to be a winner-takes-all clash depending on the result here.

Al-Nassr are currently trailing Al Hilal by seven points in the Saudi Pro League title race, with football currently on hold for a winter break.

That is despite finishing 2023 in fine form with five straight wins, where Luis Castro's side scored 21 goals.

Ronaldo was on target in all five victories and is currently the outright top scorer in the division with 20 goals in 18 appearances so far this season, so will be a big miss.

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Messi's Inter Miami side come into the game on the opposite end of the form spectrum, after taking just three points from their final six matches of the MLS regular season, causing them to miss out on the playoffs.

Despite going unbeaten in the 12 games following Messi's debut - winning 11 - Inter Miami still ended up finishing second-bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Since the end of their league season, they have remained busy but have failed to improve on the pitch.

Domestic friendlies against FC Dallas and New York City FC both ended in defeat, and a strong starting XI could only manage a 0-0 draw with El Salvador, before losing 4-3 earlier this week to Al Hilal.

This fixture will complete their brief Riyadh Season Cup campaign, before they jet off to eastern Asia to face Hong Kong All-Stars and Vissel Kobe, and then returning home to play Messi's boyhood club Newell's Old Boys ahead of the upcoming MLS campaign all in the space of 11 days.

Team News

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The first names on the team sheet for either side were set to be Ronaldo and Messi, but manager Castro has confirmed the Portuguese superstar will miss out here, destroying the narrative the hosts hoped for in a final showdown between the two.

Elsewhere for Al-Nassr, despite Senegal's elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday night, Sadio Mane is unlikely to return in time to feature here.

In beating Senegal, Seko Fofana's Ivory Coast have progressed to the quarter-finals, extending the midfielders stay in the competition with the hosts, while many of the squad's Saudi contingent are away at the Asian Cup.

There is still plenty of quality in the Al-Nassr squad though, with Aymeric Laporte and Alex Telles set to start in defence, guarded by Marcelo Brozovic, and Anderson Talisca and Otavio supporting Ronaldo in attack.

Following his move from Gremio, Luis Suarez has linked up with his former Barcelona teammate Messi in many of Inter Miami's recent friendlies, and the Uruguayan scored against Al Hilal on Monday.

Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets have also followed their former teammates to MLS, coming straight from Barcelona last year, and the two should also start.

Al-Nassr possible starting lineup:Al Aqidi; S Al Ghannam, Al Amri, Laporte, Alex Telles; Brozovic, Al Sulaiheem, Yahya, K Al Ghannam, Otavio; Anderson Talisca

Inter Miami possible starting lineup:Callender; Yedlin, Aviles, Kryvtsov, Allen, Jordi Alba; Gressel, Busquets, Ruiz; Messi, Suarez

We say: Al-Nassr 2-3 Inter Miami

If Inter Miami's clash with Al Hilal on Monday is anything to go by, then another entertaining game could be in store.

Even though Ronaldo will not be present, a bumper crowd is still expected to see Messi and co., and the absence of Al-Nassr's star man could give the MLS side the initiative to end their current winless run.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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