Will the Sky Blues also roll over the Blue Waves?

The Saudi Arabian representative Al Hilal may have a host of European stars in its ranks, but hardly anyone expected the Blue Waves to emerge unbeaten from Group H with record winners Real Madrid. This makes it all the more exciting to see whether Manchester City will be the favorites against Al Hilal or whether Al Za’eem can cause an upset against the Citizens.

Pep Guardiola’s team is certainly doing a lot of damage control in the United States. The Sky Blues won all three group games, scoring an impressive 13 goals, which certainly influences our prediction for Manchester City against Al Hilal. This round of 16 match could also be high-scoring, although the Blue Waves have only conceded one goal in the preliminary round and are very solid defensively.

However, we don’t think it’s very likely that the Saudi defense, which incidentally includes former Manchester City player Joao Cancelo as a full-back, will be able to keep a clean sheet against Manchester City. The Blue Waves will have to play for goals if they want to cause another upset. In the preliminary round, Simone Inzaghi’s team held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw – a result that we would not completely rule out this time either.

Manchester City – Statistics & current form

Manchester City failed to win either the Premier League or the FA Cup in the 2024/25 season and, remarkably, were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 in February. Nevertheless, Pep Guardiola’s side were among the favorites to win the FIFA Club World Cup. This comes as no surprise, as the quality of the Sky Blues’ squad is undisputed. The depth of the squad is particularly impressive, allowing for rotation after a long and exhausting season.

The Citizens extended their unbeaten run in the US and recorded five wins in a row thanks to three victories in the preliminary round. While they had no trouble at all against the two underdogs Wydad AC (2-0) and Al Ain (6-0), the 5-2 win against Juventus Turin was a clear statement to the competition. No other team scored more than 13 goals in the preliminary round – not even Bayern Munich, who scored just two goals in their next two games after their 10-0 opening win over Auckland.

Manchester City impresses as a team in the Club World Cup

It is also remarkable how many players have contributed to the 13 goals scored so far. Not a single Citizens player has scored three or more goals, which makes it very difficult to predict a possible goalscorer for Manchester City against Al Hilal. This is especially true because it is unclear whether Pep Guardiola will start Erling Haaland again or perhaps opt for Omar Marmoush.

Incidentally, Bet365 is offering odds of just 1.50 for the Norwegian to score, with new customers at Bet365 also able to pocket up to €100 in betting credits with the Bet365 bonus. In addition to their attacking prowess, the Sky Blues also boast a solid defense, having kept nine clean sheets in their last 14 competitive games across all competitions.

Manchester City’s predicted line-up:
Ederson – Nouri, Akanji, Dias, Nunes – Rodri – Doku, Reijnders, Silva, Savinho – Haaland

Al Hilal – Statistics & current form

Al Hilal Saudi FC from Riyadh is not only one of the dominant forces in Saudi football, but has also long since made a name for itself internationally. The club has won the AFC Champions League four times, most recently in 2021. Its international breakthrough came at the 2022 Club World Cup, when Al-Za’eem (the Boss) advanced to the final, where they were defeated 3-5 by Real Madrid in a spectacular duel.

Al-Hilal faced the Royals again in the 2025 Club World Cup and put in a mature performance against one of the tournament favorites in a 1-1 draw in their opening game. This was followed by a goalless draw against Red Bull Salzburg, before the Blue Waves sealed the deal with a confident 2-0 win over Pachuca on the final matchday. With five points and only one goal conceded, Simone Inzaghi’s team advanced to the quarter-finals as group runners-up. Another strong statement on the world stage.

Al Hilal with high quality in all areas of the team

Not only was the defense impressive, with Koulibaly and former Manchester City player Joao Cancelo proving to be indispensable pillars of strength, but the offense was also impressive. At the national level, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Marcos Leonardo, who have scored a combined 36 goals, are completely tearing up the league. The fact that Malcom’s absence is not too serious is demonstrated by the performance of Salem Al-Dawsari, who also got on the scoresheet for the first time against Pachuca. In the Saudi league, he has already scored 15 goals and provided 15 assists.

This makes it all the more remarkable that the odds are so clearly against the Blue Waves in Manchester City’s match against Al Hilal. At Betano, where new customers can get a 100% bonus up to €80 plus an exclusive €20 Betano freebet, odds of 10.0 for the Saudis to win the game in regular time are being offered. Considering that Al-Za’eem has already won a friendly against the Citizens 1-0, it might even be worth a small side bet with a modest stake for risk-taking punters…

Predicted line-up for Al Hilal:
Bono – Lodi, Koulibaly, Tambakti, Cancelo – N. Al-Dawsari, Neves – S. Al-Dawsari, Milinkovic-Savic – Mitrovic, Leonardo

Manchester City – Al Hilal Head-to-head record / H2H record

There has never been an intercontinental competitive match between these two teams, who only faced each other once before in a friendly 13 years ago, which Al Hilal won 1-0. Nevertheless, there is no head-to-head data available that could influence our prediction for Manchester City vs. Al Hilal.

Manchester City – Al Hilal Tip

The betting odds from the best bookmakers are clearly in favor of Manchester City against Al Hilal, who played brilliantly in the preliminary round and won all three group matches with a confident 13-2 goal difference. However, the Blue Waves are no walkovers. The Saudis remained unbeaten in the preliminary round and even held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw, which was no fluke. After all, Simone Inzaghi has a very strong squad at his disposal, featuring numerous top European stars.

We don’t expect the Saudis, who conceded only one goal in the preliminary round, to be able to stop City’s formidable offense. Therefore, it shouldn’t be too low-scoring, although we think the Blues Waves are capable of scoring against the Sky Blues. An interesting bet for Manchester City vs. Al Hilal is therefore that both teams will score.