On Friday, the Egyptian side Al Ahly will go head-to-head with Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad in the second round of the Club World Cup.
Al Ahly are appearing at the tournament as the CAF Champions League winners, while Al Ittihad are representing the host nation after winning the 2022-23 Saudi Pro League.
Match preview
Al Ahly will enter the competition in the second-round stage after they won the 2022-23 edition of the CAF Champions League.
The most successful club in Africa got the better of AC Wydad in the final, claiming a 2-1 win in the first leg before holding their opponents to a 1-1 draw in the return fixture to lift the trophy for the 11th time in their history.
As a result of their success, the record CAF Champions League winners are now set to make their fourth consecutive appearance at the Club World Cup and their ninth in total after debuting in the 2005 tournament.
While they have never claimed the top prize, Al Ahly have finished in third place on three occasions, most recently in 2021 when they thrashed Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal 4-0 to finish as the third-best team at the tournament behind runners-up Palmeiras and winners Chelsea.
If Al Ahly are to guarantee at least another third-place match, they will need to beat Al Ittihad to set up a semi-final tie against Copa Libertadores winners Fluminense.
Although the Egyptian side are unbeaten in eight competitive matches, they have struggled to convert draws into victories in recent games, having seen four of their last five fixtures finish up all square.
While Al Ahly are set to start their journey at the 2023 Club World Cup, Al Ittihad have already got a win under their belt in their second appearance at the Club World Cup
After previously featuring in the 2005 tournament, the Saudi Pro League club returned to the competition with a commanding 3-0 victory over New Zealand side Auckland City in Jeddah, where all three goals arrived in a dominant first half.
Romarinho opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark, before 2021 Club World Cup winner N'Golo Kante found the net to register his second goal for the Saudi Arabian side.
Karim Benzema, who has won the tournament on five occasions, then tucked home from Muhannad Al Shanqiti's low cross to become the first player to score in four separate editions of the Club World Cup.
The dominant performance helped Marcelo Gallardo claim his fourth win in six games (D1, L1), since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo as Al Ittihad boss in November.
Gallardo is hoping to go one better than 2015 when his River Plate side finished runners-up following a heavy 3-0 defeat to Barcelona in the final, but before he can look that far ahead, he must negotiate a tricky tie against Al Ahly – a team that Al Ittihad beat 1-0 in the 2005 Club World Cup.
Team News
Al Ahly boss Marcelo Koller is expected to line his side up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Mohamed Hany, Yasser Ibrahim, Ramy Rabia and Ali Maaloul featuring in the backline.
Having scored five goals in nine competitive appearances this season, Kahraba is set to operate in a front three alongside Percy Tau and Hussein El Shahat.
Former Borussia Dortmund striker Anthony Modeste could feature among the substitutes after recovering from a minor injury to appear as a late substitute in last Friday's goalless draw against Belouizdad in the CAF Champions League.
As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon ex-Real Betis defender Luiz Felipe, who recently sustained a muscle injury in a league defeat to Damac.
After seeing his side breeze past Auckland City in the first round, Gallardo could be tempted to select the same starting lineup, which would see former Premier League players Fabinho and Kante feature in midfield.
The experienced Benzema will continue to lead the line, having scored 11 goals in 17 games since joining Al Ittihad from Real Madrid in the summer.
Al Ahly possible starting lineup:
El Shenawy; Hany, Ibrahim, Rabia, Maaloul; Dieng, Attia, Kafsha; Tau, El Shahat, Kahraba
Al Ittihad possible starting lineup:
Grohe; Al Shanqiti, Hegazy, Kadesh, Al Hawsawi; Kante, Fabinho, Al Ghamdi; Romarinho, Coronado, Benzema
We say: Al Ahly 1-2 Al Ittihad
We expect a meeting between the African champions and the winners of the Saudi Pro League to produce a close-fought contest in Friday's second-round tie.
However, with Al Ittihad able to call upon the experience and talent of Fabinho, Kante and Benzema, we think that they will claim a narrow victory to set up a semi-final clash with Fluminense.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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