FIFA Club World Cup: Real Madrid vs. Al Hilal Preview, Odds, Prediction

The FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco reaches its finals, where European and Asian champions Real Madrid and Al Hilal meet. These two clubs are the most decorated on their respective continents and are current rulers of the same. Therefore we have ourselves a true derby ahead. Real already has seven titles in this competition and is the absolute record-holder. Meanwhile, Al-Hilal never got passed fourth place but is determined to go all the way now. The venue of this spectacular event is Moulay Abdallah in Rabat, one of Morocco’s biggest and most attractive stadiums.

Preview

Real Madrid (-330) came to Morocco without several of its best players, among them Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois. For the first time in a while, Los Blancos found themselves in shortage of players, and Carlo Ancelotti wasn’t pleased about that. 

Though, they would easily get past Al Ahly in the semis, defeating the African champs 1-4. The Egyptians defended fiercely in the first half, but Vinicius scored a goal at the finish of the opening sequence, killing the morale of the rivals. Valverde added another in the first minute of the second half, completely shocking the opponents. 

Following six events in a row Real played in which we haven’t seen more than three goals, this was the first one. Overall, Real isn’t as confident as in the past, and they only have two wins in the past four games. 

Al Hilal (+900) is a hard-working side who plays tough and tactical football. Their coach, Ramon Diaz, is River Plate’s legend and one of the biggest names in the history of the Argentinian titans, thus, he knows how to handle his business. Let us remind you that this guy won Copa Libertadores already. 

Al Hilal eliminated the competition’s hosts, Wydad, beating them on the penalties after 1-1 in 90 minutes. The semis saw Al Hilal defeating the Brazilian powerhouse, Flamengo, 3-2, in a bloodbath which included a red card for the Brazilians and tons of yellow cards.

Argentinian prepared his unit very well for the rivals, and was more than ready to accept the style of play Flamengo wanted to impose. Only, he had done it better. Overall, Al Hilal’s events aren’t too efficient, and this one was an exception.

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Courtois and Benzema are already mentioned to be out, as is Eder Militao. Mendy, Hazard and Vasquez are in Morocco but have yet to be included in the opening event.

Moustafa Shobeir, Karim Fouad, and Akram Tawfik are all out for the Saudi team, but they have been sidelined for a long time. 

Head to Head Game

There haven’t been any registered games between these two units so far. 

Prediction

Real is a better team, and even though Al Hilal has the crowd behind them here, the Los Blancos will win this event without too many problems. We would even suggest taking Real -1.5 goals, with the odds set at -105, which is a great value considering the risk/profit ratioratio. For sure, the Spaniards studied how Saudis played against Flamengo, and they won’t repeat the same mistakes.

Pick: Real -1.5 -105