Al Ahly vs A Ittihad Prediction: Home advantage will come into play here, but the Red Devils can’t be underestimated

On Friday, the Red Devils will face off against Al Ittihad at the King Abdullah Sports City in Saudi Arabia. Marcelo Gallardo's men march here with a convincing display against Auckland City, while the North African side are having a difficult run with a win in five games.

The Red Devils will kick off their FIFA Club World Cup campaign against Al Ittihad away from home. They have scored once in their last three games and have not won any of their previous three games.

One of the best sides in African league football will be gracing this tournament for the ninth time and have finished in third place three times. Al Ahly's journey in this competition last season ended in a (2-4) defeat against Flamengo as they bowed out as the fourth-best side in the tournament.

Al Ahly's predicted line-up (4-3-3): Mohamed El Shenawy; Akram Tawfik, Rami Rabia, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Ali Maaloul; Afsha, Aliou Dieng, Marwan Attia; Percy Tau, El Shahat, Kahraba.

The Tigers are fortunate to participate in this tournament even though they didn’t win the AFC Champions League. Al Ittihad qualified as the host country and head here with a remarkable performance in their opening game against Auckland City. Karim Benzema, N'golo Kante and Romarinho were all on the scoresheet as the visitors failed to respond. Since the appointment of Marcelo Gallardo, Al Ittihad have won four, lost once and drawn a game.

Al Ittihad predicted line-up (4-3-3): Grohe; Al Shanqiti, Hegazy, Kadesh, Al Hawsawi; Ngolo Kante, Fabinho, Al Ghamdi; Romarinho, Coronado, Karim Benzema.

Al Ahly march here without a win in their last three games because of their congested fixtures, and even though they are finding it difficult to convert their chances, they can’t be totally written off. On the opposing end, Al Ittihad head here with a decent team but inexperience in this competition. We have lots of quality players who can find the back of the net in this encounter, and we think it won’t deprive us of goals; bet on over 2.5 goals for 1.73.

We expect the Al Ittihad to dominate this encounter since they’re the host country; bet on an away win for 1.65.

We think this game will end in a halftime draw for 2.37.

Good luck!