Al-Ain vs Yokohama F. Marinos Prediction: The final showdown at Hazza Bin Zayed

Al-Ain earnestly aims for a turnaround in the return leg of the AFC Champions League finals against Yokohama F. Marinos at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium on Saturday. The first-leg encounter was a nightmare for Al-Ain as they lost an early first-half lead and ultimately lost the game by a 2-1 scoreline. This encounter presents an opportunity for Al-Ain to make up for their first-leg mistakes and ultimately get crowned Asian Champions. Yokohama F. Marinos on the other hand enter this game with a goal advantage but they cannot relax as they go into Al-Ain’s den and anything can happen in 90 minutes. Our prediction for this game is a high offensive play from both teams which will ultimately lead to goals from both teams. Please see the carefully prepared tips for you below. 

Al-Ain‘s AFC first-leg final against Yokohama F. Marinos didn’t go as expected as Al-Ain lost to Yokohama even though they got on the scoresheet first. Al-Baloushi got the opening goal for Al-Ain in the 12th minute of the game but Asahi Uneka got the equalizer for Yokohama in the 72nd minute and Kota Watanabe got the winning goal for Yokohama in the 84th minute of the game. It was a game with massive attacking prospects from both teams and we envisage a similar style in this game.  

Al-Ain’s focus has been on this return leg clash at the Hazza Bin Zayed stadium as they have rested key players all through their domestic league games. Speaking about their domestic league, Al-Ain has had a great season, currently occupying the 3rd position in the league standings with 14 victories, 3 draws, and 5 losses from the 22 league games played this season.

Yokohama is on the brink of winning this title in their first-ever final as they head into this return leg with a one-goal aggregate lead and a bag full of hopes. Yokohama pulled off a sensational comeback in their first-leg encounter by coming back from a goal down to win the game. Asahi Ueneka and Watanabe both got two goals in the last 20 minutes of the game to give Yokohama the hope needed to scale into the return leg. Harry Kewell’s men were more prolific in front of goal in that game as they converted their opportunities and left Al-Ain to suffer for their indecisiveness. Kewell’s men are full of confidence heading into this game, especially in their goal-scoring abilities. 

Yokohama F. Marinos won the first-leg encounter with a 2-1 victory.

We envisage a highly offensive game at the Hazza Bin Zayed stadium as both teams will aim for goals. Yokohama who is highly offensive in their play will aim to get an early goal to increase their goal margin and Al-Ain will aim to score as many goals as possible. Just like the first leg encounter, our backing will be on the goals option in this game. Betting on goals from both teams and a total of over 2.5 goals at 1.80 odds is our first prediction.

Now to the winner of the Cup, this game may most likely extend to extra time as manager Crespo will be aiming at making history for Yokohama by delivering this title. But we believe that Al-Ain will not lose at their home ground, the worst case is a win or draw and a total of over 1.5 goals at 1.63 odds. Al-Ain who have knocked out major teams like Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal will not go down easily.