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Club World Cup | Third-Place Playoff

Feb 11, 2021 at 3pm UK

Al Ahly
0 - 0
Palmeiras

FT
(aet)

Weverton (27'), Willian (45+2'), de Paula (69')

Al Ahly win 3-2 on penalties

Preview: Al Ahly vs. Palmeiras - prediction, team news, lineups

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 09 February 2021

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Club World Cup clash between Al Ahly and Palmeiras, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Al Ahly and Palmeiras will look to end their Club World Cup campaign on a high on Thursday afternoon when they square off in the third-placed playoff.

While Al Ahly lost out to tournament favourites Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, Palmeiras suffered a surprise defeat to Mexican side Tigres.

Match preview

Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira during the match in December 2020 © Reuters

On the back of their success in the Copa Libertadores last month, Palmeiras were regarded as favourites to meet Bayern in this year's final.

However, a second-half penalty from Andre-Pierre Gignac earned Tigres a famous 1-0 win on Monday, ending Palmeiras' hopes of lifting the trophy on their first appearance in the competition.

While their defeat to the Mexican side does not necessarily take the edge off their previous triumphs, there is no doubt that it is a missed opportunity.

Abel Ferreira must now find a way to lift his group of players, whose only win in six matches is their victory over Santos in the Copa Libertadores final.

The Brazilian giants also failed to score more than one goal in any of those fixtures, a statistic which does not play into their favour ahead of a game with Al Ahly.

Despite conceding twice in their defeat to Bayern, Al Ahly have kept nine clean sheets from their last 12 encounters in all competitions.

Pitso Mosimane would have been pleased with his team's performance against the Champions League winners, believing that it was simply a step too far against superior opposition.

However, they offered enough in that game to suggest that they are capable of getting the better of Palmeiras on Thursday, particularly with the added carrot of a third-placed finish.

Al Ahly have only achieved that feat once in six attempts, something which occurred back in 2006 when they got the better of Club America.

That said, the Egyptian team have lost their previous two fixtures against Brazilian opposition at this tournament.

Al Ahly Club World Cup form: WL
Al Ahly form (all competitions): WDWDWL

Palmeiras Club World Cup form: L
Palmeiras form (all competitions): LLDWDL

Team News

Ali Maaloul is expected to miss out for Al Ahly after his early withdrawal against Bayern three days ago.

Yasser Ibrahim is likely to take his place in the team, while Marwan Mohsen and Walter Bwalya are pushing for opportunities in the final third.

Ferreira could take the chance to rotate his Palmeiras XI, including handing chances to Felipe Melo and Patrick de Paula.

Mayke is also in contention to come back into the side at right-back, taking the spot of Marcos Rocha.

Al Ahly possible starting lineup:
El Shenawy; Hany, Banoun, Ashraf, Ibrahim; Fathi, Al Sulaya; El Shahat, Magdi Katsha, Mohamed; Bwalya

Palmeiras possible starting lineup:
Weverton; Mayke, Luan, Gomez, Vina; Menino, Veiga, Melo, De Paula, Rony; Adriano

SM words green background

We say: Al Ahly 2-1 Palmeiras

Given the level of uncertainty over team selection, this is a difficult match to predict. Nevertheless, we feel that Al Ahly will be more motivated to finish in third spot, leading us to back the Egyptian side to claim a narrow win.