Moroccan striker En-Nesyri starts as Al-Ittihad face Al-Qadisiyah in Saudi clash

Morocco international Youssef En-Nesyri has been named in a two-man attack for Al-Ittihad’s Saudi Roshan League meeting with Al-Qadisiyah, as coach Jens Wissing made several changes to his starting line-up.

The Saudi champions travelled to Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam on Friday for the second round of the league campaign, with Wissing opting for a two-striker system for the first time this season.

En-Nesyri was paired with Nigerian forward George Ilenikhina, while Dutch winger Steven Bergwijn and Algeria international Houssem Aouar were included to provide attacking support.

En-Nesyri given central role

The decision gives En-Nesyri a prominent role as Al-Ittihad look to improve on their opening-day result.

The Moroccan striker will lead the attack alongside Ilenikhina, with Bergwijn and Aouar expected to provide creativity around the forward pair.

Al-Ittihad began the campaign with a 1-1 draw against Al-Kholoud and entered the game against Al-Qadisiyah in ninth place with one point.

Their opponents, meanwhile, started the round in fifth position after beating Al-Shabab 3-1 in their opening fixture.

Diaby remains absent amid transfer reports

French winger Moussa Diaby was again missing from the Al-Ittihad squad, having also been absent for the opening league match.

His continued absence comes amid reports linking the former Bayer Leverkusen player with a return to the German club during the current transfer window.

Wissing instead turned to En-Nesyri and Ilenikhina to provide the attacking threat against Al-Qadisiyah.

Reynders starts on the bench

Al-Qadisiyah also made a notable selection decision, with new signing Tijjani Reijnders named among the substitutes.

The Dutch midfielder joined the Saudi club from Manchester City during the current transfer window but was not selected in Brendan Rodgers’ starting XI.

Rodgers instead opted for Julian Quinones and Italian striker Mateo Retegui as the central attacking pair, with Musab Al-Juwayr and Portuguese midfielder Otavio providing support from midfield.

Al-Ittihad line-up

Predrag Rajkovic started in goal, with Jan-Carlo Simic, Stefan Keller, Hassan Kadesh and Fares Abdi forming the defence.

Rakan Al-Kaabi and Senegalese midfielder Dion Lopy were selected in midfield alongside Aouar, while Ilenikhina, En-Nesyri and Bergwijn led the attack.

The selection means Simic continues at right-back in place of Muhannad Al-Shanqiti, while Portuguese defender Danilo Pereira was unavailable after being sent off against Al-Kholoud.

Al-Qadisiyah line-up

Ahmed Al-Kassar started in goal for Al-Qadisiyah, behind Mohamed Abu Shamat, Jihad Zikri, Nacho Fernandez and Gaston Alvarez.

Otavio, Julian Weigl, Bonsu Ba and Al-Juwayr formed the midfield, with Quinones and Retegui leading the attack.

With both sides approaching the match from contrasting opening-week results, En-Nesyri’s role was one of the main talking points as Al-Ittihad sought their first league victory of the season.