Comments and predictions for Man City vs Al-Hilal: No Asian miracle
The match between Man City vs Al-Hilal FIFA Club World Cup takes place at 8:00 a.m. on July 1. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes performance, makes football comments and predicts the score.
Latest Man City vs Al-Hilal team information
Manchester City will be without young talent Claudio Echeverri – who suffered an ankle injury in training ahead of the match against Juventus and could miss the rest of the tournament.
Rico Lewis remains sidelined through suspension, serving his third match ban, while Mateo Kovacic is at home recovering from Achilles tendon surgery.
After coming on in the second half on June 26, Erling Haaland scored his 300th career goal. The Norwegian striker is likely to return to the starting lineup, replacing Omar Marmoush as coach Guardiola continues to rotate his squad.
On the other side, Al-Hilal also suffered a big loss when captain Salem Al-Dawsari suffered a hamstring injury in the match against Pachuca and could be out for up to six weeks.
Coach Inzaghi replaced him with Mohamed Kanno – a central midfielder – in that match. It is likely that this change will be applied from the start, with Al-Hilal opting for a more defensive approach.
In defense, Joao Cancelo – former Man City player – is preparing to reunite with his old team. Next to him is Kalidou Koulibaly, former Chelsea center back, currently a solid stopper for Al-Hilal.
Latest expected lineup for Man City vs Al-Hilal
Manchester City:
Ederson; Nunes, Khusanov, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Gonzalez, Gundogan; Cherki, Foden, Doku; Haaland
Al-Hilal:
Bono; Cancelo, Tambakti, Koulibaly, Lodi; N. Al-Dawsari, Neves, Kanno; Milinkovic-Savic; Malcolm, Leonardo
Latest football commentary on Man City vs Al-Hilal
After a long period of title thirst, Manchester City has affirmed its strength with a near-perfect performance in the group stage, being the only team to win all 9 absolute points to confidently advance to the knockout round as usual.
After scoring a total of eight goals against Al-Ain and Wydad AC, Man City continued to show their ruthlessness against the highly rated opponent Juventus – in the match that determined the top spot in the table.
Although goalkeeper Ederson made a mistake, his colleague on the other side of the battle line, Pierre Kalulu, had an even worse performance, helping Guardiola's team easily win 5-2 against the "Old Lady" to ensure top spot in Group G.
Not only do they lead in points and goals, Man City’s goal difference of +11 is also the best in the group stage. They are also ahead 89% of the time – a record no other team can match.
Including the final stages of the 2024-25 Premier League season, The Citizens are on a five-game winning streak in all competitions. However, their upcoming opponent – Al-Hilal – has yet to taste defeat in the United States.
While Man City relied on a sharp attack to get through Group G, Al-Hilal only scored 3 goals in Group H. But that was enough to help them win second place in the group, thanks to an extremely solid defense.
Real Madrid were the only team to score against Simone Inzaghi's side in the group stage, in a 1-1 draw. They then held Red Bull Salzburg to a goalless draw, before securing a decisive win over Pachuca in the final match.
Salem Al-Dawsari’s lob and Marcos Leonardo’s last-gasp strike sealed the Saudis’ passage to the next round. They have conceded just once in three games – a defensive record on par with Paris Saint-Germain.
Since their 3-1 defeat to Al-Ahli in the AFC Champions League semi-finals, Al-Hilal have not lost another game, going on an eight-match unbeaten run heading into their second ever meeting with a Premier League side.
The first time Al-Hilal faced an English representative was a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the semi-finals of the 2021-22 Club World Cup. This time, they hope to make amends against another representative wearing blue – and if they do, they will be in the quarter-finals against Fluminense or coach Inzaghi's old team, Inter Milan.
Latest Man City vs Al-Hilal score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.Man City vs Al-Hilalas follows:
- Sportsmole:Man City 2-0 Al-Hilal
- WhoScore:Man City 1-0 Al-Hilal
- Our newspaper predicts:Man City 2-0 Al-Hilal
When and where to watch Man City vs Al-Hilal live?
To watch live the match Man City vs Al-Hilal in the FIFA Club World Cup taking place at 8:00 a.m. on July 1, viewers can watch onK+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.
