It's been just over 11 years since Manchester City last played Al Ain, the two teams meeting in a friendly in May 2014.
On that occasion, Manuel Pellegrini's City side triumphed by three goals to nil, scored by Rony Lopes, Stefan Jovetic and Jordy Hiwula in the space of 26 second-half minutes.
Pep Guardiola will doubtless be hoping for a similar scoreline to ensure City's progress to the knockout rounds of this summer's Club World Cup, with his record so far at the CWC in its various guises being 27 goals that his teams have scored and just two conceded.
City's opener against Wydad Casablanca was won at a canter, 2-0 at Lincoln Financial Field - Pep's ninth successive win at the Club World Cup in its various formats - whilst Al Ain suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat against Juventus at Audi Field - the joint-third biggest margin of defeat in the CWC.
After Bayern's truly astonishing (and embarrassing) 10-0 win over Auckland City and Benfica's 6-0 victory over the same opponents, Al Ain's five-goal margin of defeat equals that of Al Jazira, who lost 6-1 to Al Hilal in 2022.
Foden could be dropped despite notable performance
Phil Foden's performance was particularly notable in City's opener, though there's no guarantee that the England international will start the second game in Group G. In fact, it's highly unlikely.
“Many players, we need to give them minutes, otherwise if they come back from a long injury and don’t play, they’ll never get it," Guardiola was quoted as saying to reporters post-match.
“Next game, 10 new players will be there to try and win the next one.”
It's the first time an English team will play against a side from the United Arab Emirates in a competitive game, one in which Rico Lewis can't be considered because of the red card received against Wydad, whilst Mateo Kovacic didn't travel because of his Achilles injury.
Both Kyle Walker and Jack Grealish were left at home, too, of course.
Debut for Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rodri set to return
Rayan Ait-Nouri is likely to make his long-awaited debut for the club, whilst City fans will be delighted to hear that there's every chance Rodri will be making a comeback from his long-term injury.
Current form also favours the Premier League giants. Aside from the CWC opener and the 1-0 loss in the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace, City have drawn with Southampton (0-0) and beaten Fulham (2-0), Bournemouth (3-1) and Wolves (1-0) in their last outings.
By contrast, Al Ain managed to beat Auckland City 6-2 during Intercontinental Cup qualifying, but lost to Al Ahly (3-0) in the quarter-finals of the same competition.
Wydad still had 12 shots against Guardiola's side
If there's one area that Pep is likely to want to see an improvement against Al Ain, it will be in terms of defence.
Though Wydad failed to score, they still registered 12 shots at goal, only three shy of the Cityzens' 15. On another day, if one of those goes in, then a backs-against-the-wall performance can, at the very least, disrupt a free-flowing City side.
Only making four interceptions in that game might also be a concern, though City aren't necessarily renowned for the more physical aspects of the game.
When you post pass completion percentages virtually across the board of 90% upwards, then one can always overlook other aspects if they've had no real bearing on the game.
Manchester City vs Wydad Casablanca statsOpta by StatsPerform
Of course, once Foden scored with less than two minutes on the clock, it was always going to be an uphill struggle, though they acquitted themselves well.
Pep's evident quest for absolute perfection means he won't rest, of course, and woe betide Al Ain if they happen to get City on one of those days when they're really in the mood.
The Emirates-based side can at least be encouraged by Thembinkosi Lorch having seven touches in the City box for Wydad, suggesting that if the likes of Alejandro Romero and Soufiane Rahimi get forward and have their shooting boots on, they may have a chance of making life difficult for their opponents.
Al Ain must be more than physical against City
Rahimi's four touches in the Juventus penalty area in their opener were the most from any Al Ain player, and that clearly has to be improved upon, as will their defence need to be.
The Bianconeri were able to attack at will, keeping the UAE side at bay with relative ease; however, Al Ain's five shots on target should really have seen some reward.
Juve also had the lion's share of possession (63.4%), something that will be music to the ears of Man City, and yet they were still outworked in the midfield with Facundo Zabala involving himself in 18 one-on-one duels during the match - the most of any player on the pitch.
Zabala's six tackles attempted were also the most on show, and along with Rami Rabia, they provided reasonable resistance against what became an onslaught.
They and their teammates will know that City remain overwhelming favourites, but the Premier League side can't afford to be complacent, particularly with so many personnel changes expected.