Cristiano Ronaldo is making his Middle Eastern debut on Thursday, January 19, 2023. His new club Al-Nassr is teaming up with Al-Hilal to take on Lionel Messi’s PSG in a friendly game at King Fahd International Stadium, Saudi Arabia.
Before Betting on PSG vs. Riyadh All-Star XI
A few weeks ago, Cristiano Ronaldo inked a deal with Saudi Arabian powerhouse Al-Nassr, which will add as much as $200 million a year to his bank account. Even though he and his family have already moved to Riyadh, CR7 had to miss the first two games of 2023 due to suspension.
He’s going to make his club debut in the Saudi Professional League this coming weekend, but before that, he’s going to captain the Riyadh All-Star XI in an exhibition match against PSG. It’s reported that the Portuguese superstar will spend only about 45 minutes on the pitch, which should be enough to introduce himself to the Saudi crowd.
The Riyadh All-Star XI roster is made up of players from Cristiano’s Al-Nassr, but also of the best players from Al-Hilal. The result is that we’re going to see some familiar faces on the pitch that day, including Salem Al-Dawsari and Saleh Al Shehri – the scorers for Saudi Arabia in the 2-1 win over Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.
Of course, the real star power will come from the other end. PSG are coming to the capital of Saudi Arabia with practically all of its biggest stars. Lionel Messi was on the plane, as well as Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
You’d think that coach Christophe Galtier would be reluctant to put them all on the pitch, but we beg to differ. The thing is that PSG’s next league game is only in 10 days. So, even if they get jaded or injured, they’ll have plenty of time to get back on their feet by their next Ligue 1 match.
PSG vs. Al Hilal & Al Nassr Stars Offshore Betting Odds & Pick
| Offshore Sportsbook | PSG | Draw | Riyadh All-Star XI | Over 3.5 Goals | Under 3.5 Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BetOnline | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| BetUS | -375 | +450 | +650 | -135 | +105 |
| SportsBetting.ag | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Pinnacle | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| MyBookie | -384 | +480 | +660 | -142 | +104 |
The first clash between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in nearly three years is going to be an exhibition match. And such, this game comes with no jeopardy. In simple terms, no one cares who wins the game as long as the main protagonists do well on the pitch.
And we expect to see Cristiano Ronaldo do well, but also Lionel Messi and his PSG teammates. By ‘well’ we mean that we expect to see them score a lot of goals on Thursday.
Pick: Over 3.5 goals
-
Tags:
