Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa and Egyptian side Al-Ahly meet in the CAF Champions League on Saturday. Kick-off at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg is at 2pm. We have taken a look at the teams, the best bets and the best odds for you.
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What speaks for Mamelodi Sundowns?
- They won the first leg 1-0
- No injury worries
What’s in Al-Ahly’s favour?
- Defending champion is under pressure to win
- Dominant team in the first leg
Our betting tip:
- Tip: Al-Ahly Away win (Draw No Bet)
- Bookie: 1xBet
- Odds: 1.92
The defending champions of the last two CAF Champions League seasons are already under enormous pressure. They lost their group match at home to Mamelodi Sundowns in Cairo and need a win, cause otherwise Al-Merreikh or Al-Hilal from Sudan can overtake Al-Ahly in the direct encounters in the next two group games – and the Egyptians have already experienced how difficult it is going to be against the two Sudanese rivals Al-Merreikh and Al-Hilal in the two remaining games.
Expert analysis Mamelodi Sundowns
South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns have been in captivating form in recent weeks. In the build-up to this match, they defeated bottom side Mathaithai 6-0 in the South African Cup, but before that Sundowns suffered a crushing 2-1 defeat to Maritzburg in the South African Cup. However, Mamelodi Sundowns still lead the South African Premiership table and nothing stands in the way of another Sundowns title.
In order to be well prepared for the important match against Al-Ahly, the team will move to the FNB Stadium on Saturday. Not because of the spectator capacity – matches are still played without spectators in South Africa. But at the FNB Stadium, which was built for the 2010 World Cup, the conditions, the logistics and especially the pitch are better.
A fortnight ago, the Mamelodi Sundowns played against the big favourites in Cairo – and were actually the inferior team for 90 minutes. And as it sometimes happens in football: while the Egyptians missed many great chances, Mamelodi struck ice-cold – the South Africans won the match 1:0.
Expert analysis Al-Ahly
The team of former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane is already under pressure in the CAF Champion League. And the omens for the match against Johannesburg are not good for the defending champions either. Three of Egypt’s regular players are doubtful for the important match due to muscle injuries. They are Mohamed Hany, Hamdi Fathi and Hussein El-Shahat. Defender Hany and playmaker Fathi were still in the starting line-up in the first leg. Striker El-Shahat was substituted shortly before the end. Of course, this does not make things any easier for the multiple Egyptian champions. Otherwise, Al-Ahly were much better in the last two games. In the CAF Champions League, they celebrated a 3:2 home victory against El-Merreikh and on Tuesday, they regained the lead in the Egyptian league with a 3:0 victory over Pyramids.
Statistics of the first match
The two teams met in Cairo on 26 February. Al-Ahly were clearly the superior team and had almost 70% possession. 23 shots on goal were a big number, but only 6 of them were on target. Somehow, the Egyptians failed to score on the day. Mamelodi had only 6 shots in total. And as is often the case, there was one of Mamelodi Sundowns’ few attacks in the 85th minute. Thapelo Morena finished off a counter-attack with the 1-0 winning goal.
There were 6:1 corners for Al-Ahly (seven corners in total), 3 yellow cards for Mamelodi, no yellow cards for Al-Ahly.
The last two times Mamelodi Sundowns hosted Al-Ahly (in 2021 and 2020) both games finished with a draw. However, Mamelodi will likely remember the glorious night in 2019, when they won 5:0! However, that was under now Al-Ahly-Coach Pitso Mosimane.
Our bet for Mamelodi Sundowns vs. Al-Ahly
Al-Ahly are the defending champions and undoubtedly the best club team in Africa. The defeat at home in Cairo against the South Africans was not only painful but also unnecessary. Whether coach Pitso Mosimane can call on his best 11 players or not will not matter. Al-Ahly will have more possession and more shots on goal at the FNB Stadium without a crowd – and will most likely win the game this time.
