The opening game of the FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) pits Al Ahly of Egypt up against Inter Miami of the USA at the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida on Sunday.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, who are in Group A alongside the more fancied Porto of Portugal and Palmeiras of Brazil. Nonetheless, both teams will still fancy their chances given their respective forms heading into this one.
Indeed, a 5-3 defeat in a penalty shootout to Pachuca after a 1-1 draw in normal time ended a six-game winning run for Al Ahly. Meanwhile, Inter Miami won their previous two matches heading into this tournament, scoring an impressive nine goals.
It should be noted that the MLS is of a higher quality than the Egyptian top flight, but Al Ahly have still developed a habit of winning. However, Inter Miami, headlined by the superstar duo of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, should be confident of opening the tournament with a victory in their home country.
How the bookies view it: Inter Miami favourites on home soil
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Inter Miami are 21/20 favourites with BoyleSports to open the CWC with all three points on home turf. An Al Ahly win can be backed at 2/1 with the same bookmaker, while a draw is valued slightly above that at 5/2.
Recent head-to-head: No previous meetings
As previously mentioned, both Al Ahly and Inter Miami have never played each other before.
Players to watch: Can Messi inspire Miami to victory?
Nejc Gradisar could lead the line for Al Ahly, and he boasts a total of five goals in 12 appearances for the Egyptian side.
All eyes will be on Messi when he takes to the pitch, and nobody would back against the Argentine magician making an immediate impact. Indeed, he can be backed at 11/10 with BoyleSports to score anytime.
Predicted lineups
Al Ahly will be missing three key players from the squad with injury: Mohamed Abdallah, Reda Sim and Samir Mohamed.
Inter Miami have even more injury problems on their hands, with Baltasar Rodriguez, David Ruiz, Drake Callender, Gonzalo Lujin, Jordi Alba and Yannick Bright all expected to miss out.
Al Ahly: Shenawy, Hany, Dari, Rabia, Debes, Koka, Attia, Shahat, Tawfik, Bencharki, Gradisar.
Inter Miami: Ustari, Weigandt, Falcon, Martinez, Allen, Allende, Cremaschi, Busquets, Segovia, Suarez, Messi.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Inter Miami firm favourites, BoyleSports are offering a generous price boost of 9/4 for that result and Over 2.5 total goals in a combo. Given that over 2.5 goals have been scored in each of Inter Miami's last nine games, we feel that this bet could come through.
The MLS side's previous three wins have also all been by 2+ goals, so we could also explore the handicap market. BoyleSports are offering odds of 14/5 for them to win with a -1 handicap, which again seems a generous price given recent results.
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