Manchester City vs Al Ain Tips, Predictions and Bet Builder

Group G of the Club World Cup always looked likely to be dominated by European duo Manchester City and Juventus and so it proved in the first round of matches.

Defending Club World Cup champions City eased their way into the expanded 32-team tournament with a 2-0 win over Moroccan side Wydad AC, while Juve thumped Al Ain 5-0.

The Abu Dhabi side now have to face the might of Pep Guardiola's City side in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, and they are understandably massive underdogs against the Premier League side.

Manchester City vs Al Ain Tips Summary

Market	Tip	Odds
Match Result	Manchester City	1/9
Best Bet	Over 3.5 goals	1/1
Bet Builder	Erling Haaland to score, Rayan Ait-Nouri to score or assist, Match Goals Range 4-5 goals	11/2

Key Match Stats

• Manchester City's FA Cup final loss to Crystal Palace was their only defeat in their last 14 games

• Manchester City have won to nil in their last three FIFA Club World Cup matches

• City completed 627 passes compared to 321 for Wydad in their first game

• The Premier League side have kept five clean sheets in their last seven fixtures

• Al Ain were Club World Cup runners-up in 2018

• Al Ain were 4-0 down at half-time in their match against Juventus

Manchester City vs Al Ain Prediction

Best Bet: Over 3.5 goals @ 1/1

Manchester City are the defending Club World Cup champions and they made an efficient start to the tournament with a routine 2-0 win over Moroccan side Wydad AC.

Their next challenge is a game against UAE side Al Ain who are on a recovery mission after being beaten 5-0 by Juventus on matchday one.

City look set to rotate their squad to feature the players who missed out on starts against Wydad, but given that includes Erling Haaland, Rodri, Matheus Nunes and Ilkay Gundogan, it's not really good news for the underdogs.

The Premier League side had to settle for only two goals - by Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku - in their opener but as the match outcome was never really in doubt after Foden's second-minute goal there was no real urgency for them to add to their tally.

Guardiola's team were entitled to be rusty in their first game after a short break and despite the expected changes they should be sharper in their second match and capable of contributing to a contest with at least four goals. 

With City to win and over 3.5 goals paying only fractionally more than the total bet, it's best to stick to the goals wager which means any Al Ain goals would be a help rather than a hindrance.

Phil Agius says:

City have one of the most powerful squads in the competition and even with a much-changed line-up they should prove too strong for an Al Ain defence who conceded five times in their first outing.

Manchester City vs Al Ain Bet Builder Tip

• Erling Haaland to score

• Rayan Ait-Nouri to score or assist

• Match Goals Range: 4-5 goals
  

  Pays 11/2

Haaland's first appearance at the tournament was limited to only 31 minutes as a substitute against Wydad, but after that sighter he looks ready to open his scoring account against Al Ain.

The underdogs were 4-0 down at the break against Juve and things don't get any easier for them against City's superstars.

The English side's talent pool has been supplemented by the arrival of wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves and he looks capable of contributing to City's offensive efforts with either a first goal for the club or an assist.

Ait-Nouri registered seven assists and four goals in the Premier League last season and is now part of a more powerful attacking force.

Al Ain's first match produced five goals and it seems reasonable to expect a similar outcome against another strong European team, so add a match total of four or five goals to our bet builder.

Learn more about how Bet Builders work in our Bet Builder guide.

Phil Agius adds:

A different Manchester City team doesn't mean a weaker one and Guardiola has the squad strength to expect a positive performance from his stars, including talisman Haaland.

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Tactics, Form and Team News

City will be without defender Rico Lewis, who was sent off in the closing stages of their opening match against Wydad.

Guardiola may well take the chance to start many of the players who were on the bench for the opening game, including Haaland and new signing Ait-Nouri.

Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki both made their first starts for the club against Wydad.

Expected starting line-up (4-3-3): Ortega; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri; Rodri, Silva, Gundogan; Echeverri, Bobb; Haaland.

Al Ain head coach Vladimir Ivic has no reported injury concerns after their first match, but he may choose to make changes after his side's heavy defeat to Juventus.

Expected starting line-up (5-3-2): Patricio; Traore, Ratnik, Rabia, Autonne, Zabala; Romero, Yong-Woo Park, Palacios; Laba, Rahimi.

View the full market and more odds for Manchester City vs Al Ain on site.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.