Club World Cup: Real Madrid vs Al-Hilal - Betting Tips, Odds & Prediction

In a potential Group H top spot decider, Real Madrid and Al-Hilal will lock horns at Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday morning for their Club World Cup opener.  

Los Blancos begin new life under Xabi Alonso in this heavyweight clash. Carlo Ancelotti left the club after a rare trophyless season, and now Alonso, who led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, has been handed the keys to the Spanish giants.  

The former Real Madrid midfielder has a tough opening assignment, however, as he comes across a Saudi Pro League outfit dripping with stardust. Read on for our expert football betting tips on this enticing Real Madrid vs Al-Hilal clash.

Real Madrid

Armed with depth and flexibility across the pitch, Alonso will be eyeing a commanding start to his side’s campaign. Odds across the best betting sites in NZ suggest Alonso's Real Madrid reign will begin with a victory. 

The return of key names like Thibaut Courtois, Antonio Rudiger, and Vinicius Junior puts Madrid in a strong position, even though injury issues remain a potential stumbling block. 

Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to make his Real Madrid debut in this game after his headline-grabbing move from Liverpool. The England international should boost Alonso’s tactical flexibility in this tournament. 

Team News: The match will come too soon for Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao. David Alaba and Ferland Mendy, however, should make it to the squad. 

Predicted Lineup: Courtois; Asencio, Huijsen, Rudiger; Alexander-Arnold, Valverde, Bellingham, Fran Garcia; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.

Al-Hilal

While Neymar is no longer part of the picture, fans can still expect to see a lot of familiar names lining up for Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup. Football betting sites, therefore, consider them favourites to progress from the group.

Al-Hilal are looking to build on last season’s second-place league finish with Simone Inzaghi now at the helm. The former Inter Milan manager arrives after suffering agonising near misses in the Champions League and Serie A.

The Saudi Arabian club is stacked with European experience, headlined by stars such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

Team News: Leonardo is a doubt ahead of the tie, but if he regains fitness, he should occupy the playmaker position. 

Predicted Lineup: Bounou; Cancelo, Al-Bulaihi, Koulibaly, Lodi; Neves, Kanno, Milinkovic-Savic; Malcom, Leonardo, Mitrovic.

• This will be the second meeting between Real Madrid and Al-Hilal after playing for the first time in the 2023 Club World Cup.
• Real Madrid won four of their last five games before this match.
• Al-Hilal also won four of their last five games before this match.
• The two sides played out a 5-3 cracker in their previous meeting. 

Inzaghi’s Inter Milan had a reputation for their incredible defence and lethal counter-attacks. But toward the end of his reign, Inter became defensively fragile. They shipped 10 goals in their last five games, including a 5-0 thumping in the Champions League final. It’s hard to see this not leaking into Al-Hilal as well now.

Real Madrid have also had their struggles in the back end of the pitch. While they closed out the season with back-to-back clean-sheets, they conceded nine goals in the preceding four games. So, we can expect a lot of goals in this fixture. 

Both sides have incredible attacking quality. Betting on both teams to score on Kiwi betting apps is a smart move. Bottom line, while Inzaghi is a fantastic tactician, we believe Madrid will edge out the Saudi Pro League giants in an entertaining affair. 

Aleksandar Mitrovic to Score First Goal @ $9.00

If you fancy an adventurous pick for this game, we recommend backing Aleksandar Mitrovic to score the opener on Bet365 at the price of $9.00. The Serbian striker has taken his goalscoring boots to Saudi Arabia and comes off a prolific 28-goal campaign. He has the quality to stun the Madrid defence early on and pick up a quick goal, even if his side do go down.