Overview
After finishing second in the Iranian national championship last season and qualifying for the AFC Champions League, Esteghlal's form is now showing signs of decline. Coach Pitso Mosimane's team has only won 8 points after 7 matches in the domestic league, currently ranking 11th out of 16.
Esteghlal just lost 3-0 at home to Zob Ahan in their most recent match. In the second round of the AFC Champions League, Esteghlal also lost 0-2 to Qatar's Al Sadd.
Meanwhile, Al Nassr have won six consecutive matches in all competitions under new coach Stefano Pioli. Most recently, they beat Al Shabab 2-1 to continue chasing Al Hilal and Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League standings. Al Nassr are currently fourth in the AFC Champions League with four points after a draw with Al Shorta and a win over Al Rayyan.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still Al Nassr's number 1 hope. The Portuguese striker has scored 9 goals and 3 assists after 10 matches this season. CR7 is also on a streak of 5 consecutive matches scoring at club level and shows no signs of stopping.
At this moment, in many aspects, Al Nassr is rated much higher than Esteghlal. If they play at their best, the representative of Saudi Arabia can completely win all 3 points right on the away field.
In the previous 2 confrontations between Esteghlal and Al Nassr, each team won 1 victory. Notably, both Esteghlal and Al Nassr chose a strong attacking style of play. Therefore, their recent matches often had many goals.
Human resources situation
Esteghlal currently have no significant injuries or suspensions and will field their strongest possible squad in the hope of getting a point against Al Nassr.
On the other side of the front line, Sami Al-Najei, Nawaf Al-Aqidi and Sultan Al-Ghannam will all be absent due to injury. In the current context, Stefano Pioli will have to make some adjustments to the squad.
Expected lineup:
Esteghlal: Hesari, Fallah, Moradmand, Rezaian, Zakipour, Silva, Eslami, N'Dong, Kakuta, Blanco, Mohammadi.
Al Nassr: Bento, Al-Boushail, Simakan, Laporte, Al Najdi, Alkhaibari, Brozovic, Otavio, Talisca, Mane, Ronaldo.
The match between Esteghlal and Al Nassr takes place at 23:00 on October 22 (Vietnam time).
