Kick-off: 1900, 08/02/2023
Stadium: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium
Real Madrid are hot favourites to give Europe a 10th straight success in the FIFA Club World Cup and can start out by beating Al Ahly.
The Whites were responsible for four of those past triumphs and have always relished playing on such a big stage with silverware up for grabs.
We like 21/20 for the Spanish giants to win to nil as our first Al Ahly vs Real Madrid prediction.
Al Ahly Odds
Egyptian outfit Al Ahly will be backed by strong support in Morocco and have the benefit of already coming through two preliminary rounds.
Hussein Elshahat, Mohamed Sherif and substitute Percy Tau netted in a dominant 3-0 defeat of Auckland City.
Mohamed Afsha’s 88th-minute deflected effort then settled a tight tussle with Seattle Sounders in the second round.
The Red Eagles finished third in the last renewal of this tournament, beating Monterrey 1-0 and Al Hilal 4-0 either side of a 2-0 loss to Palmeiras.
They were also bronze medalists in 2020, when edging out Al Duhail 1-0 before going down 2-0 to Bayern Munich and then upsetting Palmeiras on penalties following a goalless stalemate.
Six clean sheets in eight Club World Cup outings shows where their strength lies and they can call on the experience of seven previous appearances at this level.
Mali international Aliou Dieng is a solid holding midfielder and works well alongside veteran Egypt playmaker Amr El Solia.
Ahmed Abdel Kader is a useful winger and South Africa forward Tau forms part of a decent international contingent.
With former Austria manager Marcel Koller at the helm, Al Ahly should again be well drilled, but past evidence suggests they may just have their limitations exposed once more.
Looking at the Al Ahly vs Real Madrid odds, we feel 29/10 for Draw HT/Real FT is a good option.
Real Madrid Odds
Real lifted this trophy in 2014 in Morocco, with Carlo Ancelotti in charge, and then claimed a hat-trick of title triumphs from 2016 to 2018.
Ancelotti will no doubt see this tournament as a welcome distraction from his side’s patchy run of La Liga results.
Sunday’s 1-0 loss away to Mallorca was a second defeat in five outings in Spain’s top flight, while more points were dropped in a goalless stalemate with Real Sociedad.
The Whites now trail Barcelona by eight points and were also beaten by their arch-rivals in the Spanish Super Cup final.
Reflecting on the weekend setback, when Real missed a penalty, Ancelotti said: “The game itself wasn’t a bad one, but it was unusual, with a lot of stoppages.
“We didn’t stay cool-headed in the first half. We’re going to the Club World Cup now and we have to focus on that.”
Madrid have been hit with some injury problems, with Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy out at the back, while Thibaut Courtois, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric have all been carrying knocks.
They still have the class to thrive in a prestigious knockout competition, though, and can get the job done here.
Let’s add 5/2 for the Whites to win and under 2.5 goals in the game to our Al Ahly vs Real Madrid betting tips.
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