Kingsley Coman insists Al Nassr are capable of returning to winning ways when it matters most – in Monday's Riyadh derby against bitter rivals Al Hilal.
Al Nassr's good form has evaporated in the past few weeks and they go into this crunch fixture winless in three and having surrendered top spot to their neighbours.
They were beaten 2-1 by Al Qadsiah at Al Awwal Park on Thursday night, where goals from Julian Quinones and Nahitan Nandez put the visitors two up before Cristiano Ronaldo halved the deficit late on from the penalty spot.
Chasing a first Saudi Pro League title in seven years, Al Nassr flew out of the blocks this campaign, becoming the first team in history to win their opening 10 matches.
However, Jorge Jesus’ side have suddenly stumbled, with their most recent two games ending in defeat. Last week, their 3-2 loss at Al Ahli, coupled with Al Hilal’s 2-0 victory at Damac, saw Al Nassr relinquish top spot for the first time this season.
To make matters worse, following Al Hilal’s subsequent 3-0 win against Al Hazem, the 2019 champions have now fallen four points off the pace ahead of Monday's capital derby.
“At the moment, it is not going so good,” said winger Coman, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer. “But we need to believe in ourselves ... We will win [again] for sure.
“We need to stay confident; we are still a good team. We have some players to come back from injury. So we can win next game.”
Asked about the team’s slump, the 61-cap France international said: “We wish that we can win every game in the season, but it's three games. There are 34 games in the season, so I'm pretty confident. I know that we are still good.”
Al Nassr's poor form has coincided with a thigh injury to key defender Mohamed Simakan and Senegal's Sadio Mane being away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Both will be absent again on Monday night.
Coman added: “[Mohamed Simakan] is coming back. We have Sadio [Mane] that is away and we need to stick together. We have a good team, and I'm sure and I'm confident that we'll win again.
“[Monday] will be a derby and it's against a direct competitor for the title. So we need to win it, and then we get three points back from them.”
Those words were backed up by Ronaldo, who published similar sentiments to his social media accounts.
“This fight isn’t over. We keep working and we will rise together!” he posted after last Thursday's setback.
Mari to join Al Hilal
Al Hilal look set to bolster their defensive options with a move for Fiorentina's Spanish defender Pablo Mari seemingly imminent.
Boss Simone Inzaghi, who has confidently steered his side to the top of the standings, has been seeking a new centre-back this month and had been linked with two of his former Inter Milan players in Francesco Acerbi and Stefan de Vrij.
Mari, who also previously had stints with Arsenal and Villarreal, appears to be on his way, though, with the 32-year-old set to sign for around €2 million.
Inzaghi’s men trailed Al Nassr by four points after both teams had played 10 games, but there has been an eight-point swing since.
Thursday’s win over Al Hazem was also Al Hilal's 18th consecutive victory across competitions, meaning they have serious momentum heading into Monday's clash.
Inzaghi will be without Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly and Morocco's Yassine Bounou, who are at Afcon, but otherwise has a full squad to choose from. Theo Hernandez should return to the side having served a one-game suspension.
