Real Madrid are in Rabat to start their bid for the Club World Cup crown. Liam Kelly provides a best bet for their match-up with Al Ahly.
Football betting tips: Club World Cup
1pt Under 2.5 Goals at 23/20 (General)
I'm not going to claim to know an awful lot about Al Ahly.
Of course, as a teenager I regularly raided them for bargain buy centre-back Ibrahim Said on Championship Manager 2001/2002, but otherwise, my knowledge on the Egyptian club is a little thin.
A swift check of their domestic league table is obviously encouraging for Al Ahly, sitting comfortably at the top with games in hand. Facing Real Madrid in the Club World Cup is an altogether different prospect, though.
Kick-off time: 19:00 GMT, Wednesday
Al Ahly 9/1 | Draw 4/1 | Real Madrid 2/7
However, despite the success of UEFA Champions League winners in this competition through the years, quite a few have been fairly underwhelming from a performance perspective.
Perhaps that is down to an underestimation of the competition on our part, complacency, travel/environment etc., but I expect Real Madrid to be more workmanlike than wonderful in Morocco.
As a consequence, UNDER 2.5 GOALS makes a small amount of appeal at a general price of 23/20.
Real Madrid's displays in La Liga have been far from inspiring recently, dropping way off the pace of Barcelona, sitting eight points behind their rivals after 20 games.
Carlo Ancelotti's side have only managed to score five times across their last five league matches, too, looking especially blunt in the 1-0 defeat to Mallorca last time out.
A stacked schedule could be an excuse behind the result, but that doesn't let up at all here.
Al Ahly have conceded just five goals in their 15 Egyptian league fixtures, and enter this game having held both Auckland City and Seattle Sounders goalless.
While that might fall short of impressive, taking the odds-against for Al Ahly to frustrate Real Madrid a little could be the play.
Al Ahly v Real Madrid best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Under 2.5 Goals at 23/20 (General)
Score prediction: Al Ahly 0-2 Real Madrid (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)
Odds correct at 1630 GMT (07/02/23)
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