Pitso Mosimane will have an up-close-and-personal feel of the biggest pulling factor in the Saudi Pro League as he continues with his relegation rescue mission.
The Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City will for once have bigger numbers on the stands on Tuesday (21h00) as Abha host Al Nassr.
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Al Nassr will bring Cristiano Ronaldo – who is the league’s top scorer with 26 goals – and will have Sadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte and Alex Telles for company.
This is the opposition that Mosimane needs to find a way past playing at home, where he has picked up seven out of nine points since arriving.
In contrast, Abha have lost twice and drawn once away, making the home games important in seeking to get out of the mud.
Tuesday’s match will present Abha with the perfect opportunity to move out of the danger zone for the first time should they win, and the pair of Al Tai and Al Akhdoud suffer defeats.
Al Tai have 22 points like Abha, while Al Akhdoud sit on 24 points with nine games to play.
Abha picked up a point away at Al Riyadh on Saturday in a game in which they failed to hold on to the lead again like they have done in another two games, against Al-Taawoun and Al Fayha.
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Encouraging for Abha is that they have now improved their defending as they have conceded eight goals in six games, which has been an improvement for a team that had already shipped 52 in 19 games prior to Mosimane’s arrival.
This is the first ever relegation job that the former Bafana Bafana coach has had to handle since his first head coaching spell at SuperSport United back in 2001.
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