During the first few match days of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, there have been a few surprising results, as Brazilian sides held both Borussia Dortmund and FC Porto to draws and MLS side Inter Miami drew with Egyptian giants Al-Ahly in the opening match.
It seems that Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca should stand no chance against Manchester City tomorrow at noon — especially now that the English side has Rayan Cherki, Rayan aït-Nouri, and Tijjani Reijnders in the side — but if the mostly competitive results in the early stages of the Club World Cup reveal anything, European clubs shouldn’t take wins for granted.
Man City is a -2500 favorite to win at DraftKings Sportsbook, with Wydad at +4500 and a draw at +1400.
The DraftKings Network will be closely covering the tournament, so stay tuned for more coverage.
Manchester City vs. Wydad Casablanca prediction, pick
Manchester City is obviously a strong side — even in a “down season”, they finished third in the Premier League after winning the title in six of the previous seven seasons — but these lines are disrespectful to the African side. All reports indicate that Pep Guardiola’s side is taking the Club World Cup seriously, but integrating new players into the squad and dealing with the departure of franchise legend Kevin de Bruyne is never easy. Theoretically, this result should look something like City’s 3-1 win over Championship side Plymouth in the fifth round of the FA Cup, given that Plymouth’s squad has a combined market value of 26 million Euros and Casablanca’s is 18 million Euros.
With the Moroccan side being about the same level as a low-level Championship side or top-level League One outfit, which is rare but not 2% rare. Plymouth was relegated from the Championship, but upset Brentford, which finished 10th in the Premier League, in the third round. Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur needed extra time to oust fifth-tier Tamworth. In the fourth round, City barely beat third-tier Leyton Orient, while Plymouth ousted Liverpool and third-tier Exeter took Nottingham Forest to penalties. The Reds didn’t play a full-strength squad in the game that they lost, but strange things just happen in football.
Wydad is the most decorated club in one of Africa’s wealthiest and most football-crazed countries. They’ve won the Moroccan league 22 times and the CAF Champions League eight times, making at least the semi-finals in five straight seasons between 2018 and 2023. Only one player on the Moroccan national team — backup goalkeeper El Medhi Benabid — plays for Wydad, but having any player on the roster of the 12th-ranked national team in the world and the first African team ever to reach a World Cup semifinal is an accomplishment. They only finished third in the Botola Pro Inwi this season, but going 14-12-2 is hardly a record to be ashamed of. The Casablanca-based side had the fourth-most potent attack in the Moroccan first division but conceded 13 more goals than runaway winners RS Berkane. They finished the season on a three-match winning streak and are invincible so far in 2025 in the Moroccan league, having conceded more than two goals just once all season.
I’m not going to predict Wydad to beat City, but given their 4-3-3 defending formation, their solid domestic form, and their comparable market value to low-level Championship sides, I think they’re being underestimated. City has never played them before and will have to do some scouting while integrating new players into its squad, and the non-European sides have all played their hearts out this tournament. At plus-odds, I love Wydad to lose by two or fewer goals.
