FC Salzburg will look to make it two wins from two in Group H in the Club World Cup as they take on Saudi side Al Hilal at Audi Field on Sunday evening.
FC Salzburg made a winning start to their first-ever Club World Cup match, as they defeated Pachuca 2-1 on a wet night in Cincinnati on Wednesday, where our man Kevin delivered a couple of cracking winners.
Oscar Gloukh put the Austrians ahead with a superb curling effort from outside the box, and despite the Mexicans equalising 10 minutes into the delayed second half, Karim Onisiwo’s old-fashioned header 15 minutes from time gave The Red Bulls a valuable three points.
Simone Inzaghi made an unbeaten start to his Al Hilal dugout debut, as his new side drew 1-1 with Real Madrid in Miami on Wednesday night.
Gonzalo Garcia gave Real Madrid the lead after 34 minutes, but Al Hilal equalised just seven minutes later, as ex-Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves fired home a penalty.
The game did end with a bit of drama, as Real Madrid were awarded a late penalty thanks to a VAR intervention, but Moroccan goalkeeper Bono kept out Federico Valverde’s penalty, earning last season’s Saudi Pro League runners-up a point.
How the bookies view it: Saudi’s favourites
Al Hilal perhaps come into this clash as surprising odds-on favourites, with BoyleSports pricing them at just 3/4 to claim all three points.
A Salzburg win is 13/5 with the same firm, whilst the draw is also quoted at 13/5.
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Head to head: First ever meeting
Unsurprisingly, this is the first ever meeting between these two sides.
Players to watch: Al-Dawsari to deliver?
Salem Al-Dawsari has found the back of the net in seven of his last 10 appearances for Al Hilal, scoring on 10 occasions, and is an appealing 15/8 to net at BoyleSports here.
Nene has scored eight goals in his past 10 appearances for Salzburg – and given he is also usually on penalty duty – I like the look of him to score at 9/4 with BoyleSports.
Predicted line-ups:
Salzburg boss Thomas Letsch will once again be unable to call on Nicolas Capaldo and Daouda Guindo.
Ex-Fulham frontman Aleksandar Mitrovic missed the draw with Real Madrid, and the Serbian is still a doubt for this clash.
FC Salzburg: Schlager, Terzic, S Baidoo, Gadou, Trummer, Kawamura, Bidstrup, E Baidoo, Gloukh, Ratkov, Nene
Al Hilal: Bono; Cancelo, Al-Bulayhi, Koulibaly, Lodi; Neves, Kanno, Milenkovic-Savic; Al-Dawsari, Mitrovic, Malcom
Anything else catch the eye?
Both clubs will be eyeing the three points in this clash to boost their chances of reaching the last-16, and given the amount of high-scoring clashes both have been involved in in recent months, I’m happy to back goals here.
Salzburg’s previous 10 matches in all competitions have averaged an eye-catching 3.50 goals per game, with Both Teams to Score banking in nine (90%) of them, whilst eight (80%) of them have seen a minimum of three strikes.
Al Hilal’s matches are generally good for goals, with their past 12 in all competitions averaging 4.08 goals per game, with eight (67%) of them seeing goals at both ends, whilst eight (67%) have also seen Over 2.5 Goals land.
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