The 2021 Club World Cup gets underway on Thursday evening as Al Jazira Club square off against Pirae in Abu Dhabi.
While Al Jazira have benefitted from the United Arab Emirates being the host country, Pirae are only participating in the competition having replaced Auckland City.
Match preview
Al Jazira ended a four-year wait to win the UAE Pro League last season, an achievement which ultimately secured their place in this competition when the UAE stepped in as hosts.
However, Marcel Keizer's side have not enjoyed the same level of success during the current campaign, the Spider currently down in fifth place in the standings.
Although they have collected seven points and scored eight goals from their most recent three league fixtures, they currently sit seven points adrift of leaders Al Ain.
Al Jazira also head into this contest on the back of being eliminated from the Presidents Cup, going down by a 2-1 scoreline at home to Al Wahda.
Their last appearance in this competition was a hugely successful one, Al Jazira recording wins over Auckland City and Urawa Red Diamonds before only succumbing by a 2-1 scoreline to Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
Opponents Pirae will be making their debut outing in the tournament having been selected as the replacements for Auckland, who miss out due to coronavirus regulations.
Although Pirae are one of the most successful teams in Tahiti, this is a significant step up for Naea Bennett and his squad.
Like Al Jazira, they are enduring a below-par season on the domestic front, Ajkule already sitting nine points adrift of leaders Dragon in a division where four points are aware for a win.
Pirae scored a remarkable 22 goals in their three matches before facing Venus on January 23, but they went down by a 1-0 scoreline to the second-placed team in the league.
Whoever prevails from this clash will move through to a meeting with Saudi Arabia club Al-Hilal.
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Team News
Keizer is expected to name a team similar to the one which collected a win over Al-Wasl Sports Club during the middle of January.
Abdoulay Diaby has been one of the stars of their campaign, the Mali international and former Club Brugge star contributing six goals this season.
Joao Victor is another key man, the Brazilian having recently left Wolfsburg to move to Al Jazira.
The vast majority of Pirae's squad are made up of homegrown players, with 38-year-old Axel Williams potentially leading the line.
Al Jazira Club possible starting lineup:
Khaseif; Rabii, Alhammadi, M. Al Attas, Idrees; Serero, Ramadan; Diaby, Bruno, Joao Victor; O. Al Attas
Pirae possible starting lineup:
Torohia; Tiatia, Paama, Tau, Graglia, Tihoni, Bourebare, Tehau, Warren, Williams, Tehau
We say: Al Jazira Club 3-0 Pirae
Pirae will want to make a notable impression on their debut appearance, but it is difficult to look past Al Jazira. The home team are not expected to have a run in this competition, but they should have enough quality to come through this contest.
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Al Jazira Club win with a probability of 90.08%. A draw had a probability of 7.3% and a win for Pirae had a probability of 2.66%.
The most likely scoreline for an Al Jazira Club win was 3-0 with a probability of 13.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.77%) and 4-0 (11.31%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (3.45%), while for a Pirae win it was 0-1 (1.02%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 5.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Al Jazira Club would win this match.
