Palmeiras, the 2021 Copa Libertadores champions, will take on Al Ahly in the first semi-final of the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup at the Al Nahyan Stadium on Tuesday.
Palmeiras, alongside Chelsea, earned a place directly into the last four while Al Ahly, who are making their seventh appearance in the competition, defeated Monterrey 1-0 in the second round fixture on Saturday.
Al-Hilal and Chelsea square off in the second semi-final fixture of the competition on Wednesday.
Palmeiras vs Al Ahly Head-to-Head
This will be just the second competitive meeting between the two sides. Their only encounter so far came in the previous edition of the competition. They met in the third-place playoffs last year at the Education City Stadium, with Al Ahly defeating the Brazilian side 3-2 on penalties after the game ended goalless in regular time.
Palmeiras form guide (all competitions): W-D-W-W-W
Al Ahly form guide (all competitions): W-D-W-W-W
Palmeiras vs Al Ahly Team News
Palmeiras
Alviverde have traveled to the UAE with a 23-man squad. As of Sunday, there are no reported injuries or COVID-19 related absentees for Abel Ferreira.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Al Ahly
The Egyptian team had a depleted squad to face Monterrey in their second-round match earlier this week but managed to eke out a narrow 1-0 win. Hossam Hassan, Ammar Hamdy and Mahmoud Metwally joined Percy Tau, Badr Benoun, Salah Mohsen, and Akram Tawfik on the treatment table ahead of the game against the Liga MX side.
The injured players are not expected to be available for the club, even if they make it to the final. Mohamed El-Shennawy, Ayman Ashraf, Mohamed Abdelmoneim, Hamdi Fathi, Amr El-Sulya, and Mohamed Sherif have been left out of the squad on account of their involvement with the Egyptian national team at the AFCON.
Injured: Hossam Hassan, Ammar Hamdy, Mahmoud Metwally, Percy Tau, Badr Benoun, Salah Mohsen, Akram Tawfik
Suspended: None
Unavailable (International duty): Mohamed El-Shennawy, Ayman Ashraf, Mohamed Abdelmoneim, Hamdi Fathi, Amr El-Sulya, Mohamed Sherif
Palmeiras vs Al Ahly Predicted XI
Palmeiras Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Weverton; Jorge, Luan Garcia, Gustavo Gómez, Marcos Rocha; Danilo, Ze Rafael; Gustavo Scarpa, Raphael Veiga, Dudu; Rony
Al Ahly Predicted XI (3-4-3): Hamza Alaa; Rami Rabia, Yasser Ibrahim, Mohamed Maghrabi; Ali Maaloul, Mohamed Magdy, Aliou Dieng, Mohamed Hany; Taher Mohamed, Hussein El-Shahat, Ahmed Abdelkader
Palmeiras vs Al Ahly Prediction
Palmeiras have looked good in their Campeonato Paulista campaign so far, while Al Ahly have played just one competitive game since December. Although Al Ahly managed to secure a win over Monterrey with a weakened squad, the same might not be possible against Palmeiras.
We expect the game to be a closely contested one but a win for the Brazilian side seems to be the likely outcome here.
Prediction: Palmeiras 2-1 Al Ahly