Cristiano Ronaldo will start as Al Nassr visit Al-Qadisiya at the Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium on Sunday evening in a match that could push the league leaders closer to the title.
Al Nassr arrive on the back of an extraordinary run — 16 consecutive victories and 20 matches without defeat — and sit top of the Saudi Pro League with 79 points from 26 wins, one draw and three defeats. The team has scored 81 goals and conceded 21 this season, and their away record reads 12 wins, one draw and two defeats. Coach Jorge Jesus has avoided any late fitness dramas: Ronaldo has avoided injuries and physical fatigue in recent matches, came off a goal in the previous game and, the club says, will lead the line again. He and Joao Felix have combined for 41 league goals, a partnership that has powered Al Nassr through a run of five consecutive wins across all competitions in which they scored 14 goals and conceded one; their most recent result was a 2-0 win over Al Ahli in which Ronaldo and Kingsley Coman found the net.
The stakes are immediate. Victory on Sunday would move Al Nassr closer to a first Saudi Pro League title since the 2018-19 season. This is matchday 31 and the margin for error is shrinking; every point carries weight in the closing weeks.
Al Qadsiah, fourth in the table, are not a soft target. They have 65 points from 19 wins, eight draws and three defeats, and they have been unbeaten at home all season — 15 fixtures without defeat, with nine wins and six draws. They have scored 71 goals and conceded 31. In their most recent outing they dismantled Al Riyadh 4-0, with Julian Quinones and Abdullah Al-Salem each scoring twice, and the club have beaten Al Nassr in four of the last five meetings, including a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture earlier this season. That pedigree at the Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium makes the fixture a live contest rather than a coronation.
The match arrives with notable absences on both sides that complicate predictions. Al Qadsiah will be without four key players — Waleed Al-Ahmad, Turki Al-Ammar, Mateo Retegui and Julian Weigl — a list that removes both attacking and midfield options from their selection pool. Al Nassr, meanwhile, will miss Raghid Alaa Najjar, Mubarak Buainain and Sami Al-Najei. Those gaps create tactical puzzles: Al Qadsiah must adjust a side that has thrived at home without those starters, while Al Nassr must maintain their scoring momentum without a trio of squad players who have provided depth across the season.
The broader context sharpens the tension. Al Nassr are running toward the title but have already been beaten by the very opponent they face tonight; that reverse 2-1 result earlier in the season underlines how Al Qadsiah’s home form and matchup advantages can disrupt even dominant teams. For Al Qadsiah, holding to their unbeaten home record and picking up points against the leaders would keep them firmly in the top-four conversation and validate the season they have produced. For Al Nassr, the match is a test of whether their recent scoring blitz and the Ronaldo–Felix combination can translate into the consistency a title charge requires.
This game will likely decide more than three points: it is a measure of whether Al Nassr’s momentum is a runaway force or a streak that can be checked by a well-drilled home side missing key personnel. Given the visitors’ scoring depth, recent consistency and Ronaldo’s fitness, Al Nassr look set to press their advantage and move significantly closer to the club’s first league crown since 2018-19 — but only if they can overcome the familiar challenge of Al Qadsiah at home in what has become a heated chapter in the al qadsiah vs al-nassr rivalry.
