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Manchester City face Al Hilal today in the Round of 16 of the Club World Cup at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
Kick-off is at 2 a.m. Moroccan time (GMT+1) and fans can catch the action live for free on the DAZN website and app.
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Pep Guardiola’s men arrive in typically terrifying form. After a slow-ish start against Wydad Casablanca, they’ve been scoring for fun – 13 goals in three games, including a 6–0 hammering of Al Ain and a 5–2 thrashing of Juventus.
Suddenly, City look like the classic City again.
Al Hilal, now under Simone Inzaghi, aren’t just here for a sun-soaked holiday in the US either. They held Real Madrid to a draw in the first game of the group stage, drew against Salzburg, and beat Pachuca to make it out of Group H in second place with five points behind group leaders Real Madrid.
But they’ve been hit with a couple of setbacks – Salem Al-Dawsari is out with a hamstring injury, and target man Aleksandar Mitrović is still in the treatment room.
Still, they’ve got muscle. Koulibaly, Neves, Milinković-Savić, Malcom…and even João Cancelo, who’ll be itching to prove a point to former boss Guardiola who shipped him away after a short spell in Northern England.
Erling Haaland is expected to start after a brief rest, and with Phil Foden, Jérémy Doku, Savinho, and Rayan Cherki all firing, Pep’s got more attacking options in his arsenal than most clubs. The midfield is fluid, the defence looks steel-solid, and there are no fresh injury concerns.
Al Hilal will likely sit deep, play on the break, and pray the Moroccan shot-stopper Yassine Bounou has the game of his life standing between the posts. But unless Inzaghi pulls off a tactical masterclass, this could get away from them quickly.
Predicted Lineups
Man City (4-2-3-1):
Ederson; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, Aït-Nouri; Gonzalez, Gündoğan; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Haaland
Al Hilal (4-3-1-2):
Bounou; Cancelo, Tambakti, Koulibaly, Lodi; N. Al-Dawsari, Neves, Kanno; Milinković-Savić; Malcom, Leonardo
Score Prediction:
Guardiola’s team are in their groove again — and unless Bounou turns into Spider-Man and weaves his web in the goal, it’s hard to see Al Hilal stopping them.
MWN expect City to cruise through to the next round.
Verdict: Man City 3–0 Al Hilal
