Manchester City vs Al Ain FC Predictions, Odds and Best Bet

Derek Mountain Sports Betting Expert

13 minute read

Manchester City will face Al Ain FC on Sunday at 9:00 PM EDT in Club World Cup Match action from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

Manchester City began their campaign with a solid 2-0 victory over Wydad AC. New signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki made their debuts in Philadelphia, while first-half goals from Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku secured the win. These performances were standout highlights, and Rodri's return to action added to the positive momentum. However, Rico Lewis's late sending-off somewhat overshadowed the evening. Looking ahead, all indicators point to another comfortable match for Pep Guardiola’s side against Al Ain FC, who conceded four goals in the first half to Juventus.

Bookmakers are giving City a 94% chance of winning (-1500 on the moneyline), suggesting that the encounter is likely to be one-sided as they prepare to face Juventus in a top-spot decider on matchday three.

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Analysis of the Match

It’s a crucial match in Group G of the Club World Cup. Most expected Juventus and Manchester City to stamp their authority on the group. They did just that on Matchday One with wins over Al Ain and Wydad, respectively. Now we’re in a position where a win for City will seal their passage to the last 16 and end Al Ain’s chances. 

This match should fall into a similar pattern to City’s 2-0 win over Wydad. Expect City to make a quick start and dominate the ball throughout. The Citizens generated 0.92 in the opening 45 minutes. If Al Ain put in the same kind of first-half performance here that they did against Juventus, then that number could double. 

City’s right flank could be the key to this one. Pep could call upon Savinho once again or bring in Matheus Nunes. Either way, it’s an area where City could have some joy. Al Ain full-back Facundo Zabala had a torrid time against Juventus. The Argentinean won just one of his six tackles and lost seven duels in total. That will need to improve if Al Ain wants to avoid an overload down their left flank. 

Manchester City Analysis and Form

If you didn’t watch the match, Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Wydad looked about as comfortable and routine as many expected. Two goals, a clean sheet and Phil Foden pulling the strings. How could it get any better?

But things could have been different. Wydad generated 0.50 xG but had far more opportunities and dangerous attacks than that suggests. They outshot City in the second half and were highly competitive in the duels. That will need to improve for Pep Guardiola’s men.

Fortunately for them, Pep and Man City can switch things up very easily. Erling Haaland, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Matheus Nunes, and Oscar Bobb all came off the bench on Matchday One. Another nine outfield first-team players failed to make it off the bench. Guardiola will likely rotate ahead of the Matchday Three showdown with Juventus. 

Al Ain FC Analysis and Form

Things will need to improve drastically for Al Ain. Their 5-0 defeat to Juventus was the second-heaviest in Matchday One of the Club World Cup. Al Ain allowed Juventus 25 touches and nine shots in their box in the first half alone. 

The expected goals figures paint a closer match. Juventus won that battle 1.62 to 0.52. That seems like a fairly even contest, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. More than half of the xG Al Ain generated was in that chance for Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba early in the second half. Other than that, they only managed long shots and half-chances. 

It’s not all bad for Al Ain. Yong-Woo Park and Matias Palacios moved the ball around fairly well in the center of midfield. The aforementioned Kodjo Laba looked dangerous at times and will be their biggest goal threat against City with 20 to his name this season. 

Head to Head 

Manchester City boasts a flawless record in intercontinental matches, having won all three games they've played. In the 2024 Club World Cup, City secured victories over Urawa Red Diamonds and Fluminense and recently defeated Wydad AC with an impressive aggregate score of 9-0. 

Phil Foden has scored in two of these fixtures, including a goal in the 2023 Club World Cup final against Fluminense when Manchester City triumphed 4-0.

Manager Pep Guardiola's track record against non-UEFA teams is outstanding, having claimed the Club World Cup title four times: twice with Barcelona and once each with Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

Curiously, though, Al Ain has faced intercontinental opposition more frequently than Manchester City, with seven encounters in total. 

They managed four wins, notably overcoming River Plate 7-6 on penalties in the 2018 semi-final, although they were defeated 4-1 by Real Madrid in the final. Their most recent victory in the competition came in September 2024, when they dispatched Auckland City 6-2 in the first round.

Team News and Predicted Lineups

Manchester City's possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Ait-Nouri, Vitor Reis, Ake, O’Reilly; Reijnders, Cherki, Foden; Savinho, Marmoush, Doku.

Al Ain FC's possible starting lineup:

Patricio; Traore, Ratnik, Rabia, Kouadio, Zabala; Kaku, Park, Palacios; Rahimi, Laba.

The transfer window saw Man City prepare to dominate the Club World Cup with three high-value transfers. Ryan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, and Rayan Ait-Nouri pack a €140.00m punch.

Cherki and Reijnders made their debuts, while Ait-Nouri will likely get his chance with the red card suspension of Rico Lewis. The slot will open for either him or Josko Gvardiol.

It will be up to Pep to decide if he wants to rest some players or use this opportunity to test new arrivals. Phil Foden impressed in the first game with a goal and an assist, so he might be the key to winning the next. Regardless, we can expect quite a few changes and rotations, even mid-game.

In contrast, there are no significant new injuries in the build-up for Al Ain. Despite a defensive 5-3-2 lineup, the Ainawy conceded five in the opener against Juventus. The back line will have to do substantially better to stop City from doing the same.

Marcel Ratnik’s 7.0 clearances per 90 were great, but the blame can’t go solely on Al Ain’s goalkeeper, Rui Patricio. Despite having only a 28.6% save rate, the defenders needed to do a lot more.

Odds/Betting Discussion

Just like they were against Wydad AC on MD1, Manchester City has been handed a -2.75 Asian Handicap to overcome by the bookmakers. The Citizens will need to score four goals to win the selection in its entirety. Pep's side couldn't do that on MD1 (2-0), but this is a drop in level in terms of the opponent's quality.

The Premier League side has brought a stacked squad to the United States for the Club World Cup. It'd be a surprise if Pep Guardiola didn't utilize the whole cohort of players in camp, so expect several different faces in the starting lineup on MD2. Erling Haaland could come in from the first whistle after being benched versus Wydad AC. The Norwegian is the only player priced under evens by the bookmakers to score at any time in the match.

At 1.12/-883, Manchester City are predicted to breeze through their second game of the tournament and head to face Juventus in the final group game, where they'll receive a much sterner test from the Italians. The two European teams are favorites to win the group, as you'd expect, with Wydad AC and Al-Ain way over 101.0/+1000 to finish in pole position.

Manchester City Rotation on the Cards for MD2 Versus Weary Legs

“This is the first game. We’ll prepare the next one with new players,” explained Pep Guardiola in the post-match press conference following Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Wydad AC.

“We’ll recover, train well in the next few days, and then have fresh legs for the next game,” suggesting several new players might be in line to feature versus an Al-Ain outfit that was just run ragged by Juventus (5-0). 

“We’ll try step by step to improve things,” Pep added. “It’s normal in this stage with new players and a lot of people coming back from big injuries; step by step, we’re going to take the right tempo.”

Al-Ain and many other clubs at this tournament don’t possess the luxury of being able to switch up a starting eleven in between fixtures in the searing heat. That might be the difference between City going all the way in this competition. 

BEST BET: Man City Win Both Halves & Win to Nil (-105)

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Derek Mountain

Derek Mountain works in the Boston area as an SEO Performance Associate for Better Collective. Derek is a recent graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA where he played football for five years as well as walking on the basketball team his freshman year. Derek has experience writing and editing casino content for nearly four years. More from Derek Mountain