Manchester City and Al-Hilal will face off in an exciting Round of 16 match at the FIFA Club World Cup on Monday, taking place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. Both teams come in undefeated, but only one can advance.
Pep Guardiola's squad dominated the group stage, earning nine points from three matches. In contrast, Al-Hilal finished second in their group behind Real Madrid, using a defensive strategy.
City: Strong offense and impressive stats
Manchester City showcased their power in the group phase, easily defeating Al-Ain and Wydad Casablanca. They capped off their performance with a 5-2 win against Juventus, securing the top spot in Group G.
Even with an early error from Ederson, which was later overshadowed by a bigger mistake from Juventus's Kalulu, City's overall performance was outstanding. They ended the group stage with the most goals (8), the best goal difference (+11), and led for an impressive 89% of the game time in their three matches.
Al-Hilal: Strong defense with sharp finishing
On the other hand, Al-Hilal focused on defense in Group H. They scored just three goals but conceded only once. That lone goal came in a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid. They followed that with a scoreless tie against Salzburg and then secured a 2-0 win over Pachuca on matchday three.
Veteran winger Salem Al-Dawsari scored with a great lob, and Marcos Leonardo added a late goal to help the Saudi side advance to the knockout stage. Al-Hilal’s defensive record matched that of Paris Saint-Germain, making them one of the toughest teams to score against so far.
Manchester City Expected XI (4-2-3-1):
Ederson; Nunes, Khusanov, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Gonzalez, Gundogan; Cherki, Foden, Doku; Haaland
Al-Hilal Expected XI (4-3-1-2):
Bono; Cancelo, Tambakti, Koulibaly, Lodi; N. Al-Dawsari, Neves, Kanno; Milinkovic-Savic; Malcom, Leonardo
