Al Hilal Riyadh vs Sharjah SC: Defending champion to get the win here

The defending champion will launch their title defence against a strong Sharjah SC side on Friday. It's a battle between two country clubs, the Saudi Arabian colossus and the United Arab Emirates great. Can the dark horse strike one of the favourites to lift the trophy?

The existing champion will begin their title defence as the beloved this season, they have the upper hand in this tournament as all the group matches will be played in Saudi Arabia.

Al Hilal qualified as the second-best in the group games when they qualified as the best losers and went ahead to claim the trophy.

They claimed both their domestic league and the Asian AFC trophy last season but are presently 2nd on the table with two games to spare.

Bafetimbi was an integral part of the team that won them the AFC last season but have since parted ways with the Saudi giant, Odion Ighalo will be leading the line with the support of Marega and Al-Faraj.

The 2019 United Arab Emirates Pro League winner will once again test the water in this competition. Nevertheless, they have failed to make it out of the group stage in 2009 and 2020 but qualified for the Round of 16 in the 2021 edition after finishing ahead of Pakhtator, Tractor and Al-Jawiya.

They are currently 4th on the table with ten points behind the table topper Al-Ain and have lost five matches this season, won twelve and drawn three. The league seems to be out of reach this season but have the opportunity to lay their hands on a trophy this season provided they do what champions do.

They see themselves as being experienced compared to their past comings and will draw motivation from last year's performance which saw them make it past the group stage.

Both teams haven't been paired before as anyone could take points here. In our findings, we discovered the home team are a strong contender in this tournament and they have the home advantage as all group games will be played in their country.

A total of 2.5 will play out in this encounter as both teams will attack all through for 1.73.

Home team have some really attacking threats in their cart and we might see them unleash some in both halves bet on the home team to score in both halves for 2.50.

Bet on home and over 1.5 for 1.55.

Good luck!