Manchester City are ‘not guaranteed’ to beat Al-Hilal in the last 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup, Citizens expert Steven McInerney tells Sports Mole.Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that Pep Guardiola’s side are ‘not guaranteed’ to beat Al-Hilal in the last 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup.The Citizens enter this contest after winning all three Group G matches to secure top spot, most recently putting Juventus to the sword 5-2 in a statement victory last Thursday.Al-Hilal, meanwhile, are also unbeaten at this summer’s tournament – keeping two clean sheets in the process – and followed up respectable draws with Real Madrid (1-1) and Red Bull Salzburg (0-0) by beating Pachuca 2-0 last Friday to secure second place in Group H.The 19-time Saudi Pro League champions have several familiar faces to European supporters with their squad, including former Man City full-back Joao Cancelo who will do battle with Guardiola and co for the first time since leaving in August 2024.Man City are considered as the “vast favourites” to beat A-Hilal in the eyes of McInerney, but “the Real Madrid of Saudi Arabia” – now managed by former Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi – should not be entirely written off.Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: “I expect City to win. The vast favourites for this. In the game [Al-Hilal] won against Pachuca, it was still pretty even in terms of shots and possession and all that kind of stuff. 2-0 was a great result for them.Could Al-Hilal stun in-form Man City in last-16 clash?“But we can’t deny the fact that [they earned] a massive result against Real Madrid, a 1-1 draw. They consider themselves, apparently, as the Real Madrid of Saudi Arabia, so that would have been a massive moment for them.“Looking at the team that lined up against Real Madrid: [Kalidou] Koulibaly, Cancelo, Bono, [Sergej] Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom, [Marcos] Leonardo, there’s so many quality players there that would play in the Premier League. There’s genuinely elite level footballers there.“It’s still a massive step up against Manchester City and the level that they play against every week doesn’t compare to the Premier League in terms of intensity, but they’ve got a manager now in Inzaghi who’s a multiple Champions League final-reacher, not necessarily a winner, but he’s one of the biggest managerial prospects in world football and it’s an incredible coup for them.“This is the kind of platform they wish to be on. We cannot take this lightly as City fans and I’m sure Guardiola won’t. This is where [Al-Hilal] want to be because this is almost a justification of validation for the entire Saudi Arabian sporting project right now.“They were up against Real Madrid and they drew, now they’re up against Manchester City, the most successful team in the past 10-11 years in English football, if not European football, and they’re going to be measuring themselves against that.Man City to take Al-Hilal “very seriously”“Of course with Joao Cancelo as well, there is that added extra spice and they’ve got board members that used to be at Manchester City Football Club, so there’s ties there as well.“They’re going to play cautiously, but with attacking intent. You can’t have players like [Ruben] Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom and Cancelo and not get forward. That’s how they play, so I’m expecting them to come at Manchester City.“They do play with attacking style in their league, [but] it’ll be a different story against City, of course. City should win this. They should do and hopefully comfortably, because Al-Hilal probably don’t really match up to Juventus that well, but there’s no guarantee.“You cannot leave Cancelo, for example, 20 yards outside the area, or even Milinkovic-Savic, unmarked and expect to get away with it, because they have the kind of quality that will punish you. I expect City to take this very, very seriously and [City’s lineup will] be something again approaching the strongest side.”McInerney has also shared his thoughts on who Guardiola could name in his starting lineup and hopes that the partnership of Jeremy Doku and new signing Rayan Ait-Nouri down Man City’s left flank can “grow” and is ‘given another chance’ by the Citizens boss.> Click this link to view and listen to the full discussion ahead of Man City’s clash with Al-Hilal.ID:576501:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect6594:

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