After recording surprise victories in the previous round over European Hannes, Fluminense and Al Hilal will battle it out for a place in the Club World Cup semi-finals in Orlando on Friday night.
Fluminense began their Club World Cup campaign with a goalless draw with Borussia Dortmund, before coming from 1-2 down to defeat K League 1 side Ulsan 4-2.
Renato Gaucho’s men had to avoid defeat on their final group match against Mamelodi Sundowns to progress to the last-16, and they did so by playing out a nervy goalless draw with the South Africans.
That meant Flu finished second in their group and set up a tie with Champions League finalists Inter, and despite being 21/10 outsiders, goals from German Capo and Hercules gave the Brazilian side a 2-0 victory over The Nerazurri, on an evening where our man Kevin successfully tipped cards for the Brazilian side.
Former Inter manager Simone Inzaghi began his reign as Al Hilal boss with back-to-back draws with Real Madrid and FC Salzburg, before defeating Mexican side Pachuca 2-0 to finish second in Group H and set up a tie with Manchester City.
Despite many expecting Manchester City to go through, it was the Saudis who prevailed, defeating the Citizens 4-3 in extra time following a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes.
How the bookies view it: Saudis slight favourites
According to the bookmakers, they are no clear favourites in this one, with Al Hilal 7/5 at BoyleSports to win inside 90 minutes.
A Fluminense win is slightly bigger at 7/4 with the same firm, whilst the draw is 23/10.
Head to head: First meeting between the pair
Unsurprisingly, this is the first-ever meeting between these two sides.
Players to watch: More magic from Marcos?
Marcus Leonardo was the hero against Manchester City last time out, as he made it 1-1 at the beginning of the second half and scored the winner in extra time. The Brazilian also scored in Al Hilal's victory over Pachuca in their final group match, and is 13/8 at BoyleSports to score for the third match in a row.
Thiago Silva has been a rock at the heart of the Fluminense defence this tournament, with the ex-Chelsea man helping his side keep three clean sheets across their four matches at The Club World Cup, and BoyleSports have another Fluminense clean sheet priced at 12/5.
Predicted line-ups:
Fluminense will be without left-back Rene, who is suspended, after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament against Inter last time out.
Al Hilal will be without their captain, Salem Al Dawsari, for the rest of the tournament after he injured his hamstring.
Fluminense: Fabio, Xavier, Silva, Freytes, Fuentes, Martinelli, Hercules, Arias, Nonato, Canobbio, Cano
Al Hilal: Bounou, Cancelo, Al-Harbi, Koulibaly, Lodi, Al-Dawsari, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Malcolm, Leonardo, Kanno
Anything else catch the eye?
As already alluded to, the bookmakers are finding this a tough one to call, and in truth, so am I, meaning I’m leaning towards this match finishing in a draw, which pays 23/10 at BoyleSports.
Fluminense have already played out a couple of goalless draws against Borussia Dortmund and Mamelodi Sundowns in the group stage, whilst Al Hilal have drawn three of their four matches at this tournament.
Fluminense and Al Hilal have seen Under 2.5 Goals payout in 3/4 (75%) of their respective matches at this tournament, and a repeat here pays 4/5 at BoyleSports.
GambleAware