This is a Manchester City predicted lineup for their first game of the newly revamped Club World Cup against Wydad Casablanca. The tournament has been scheduled in somewhat of an unorthodox slot, as the Cityzens played their final Premier League game on May 25 and there has also been a round of international fixtures in the last three weeks. City’s new director of football, Hugo Viana, has been extremely busy over the past few weeks, securing the signatures of Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Marcus Bettinelli ahead of the tournament. It will be interesting to see if Pep Guardiola treats the early stages of the competition as if it is preseason.
Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs Wydad Casablanca
How Manchester City Have Lined Up Recently
Ederson started the final game of the Premier League season in goal for City as Stefan Ortega Moreno once again had to be satisfied with a place on the bench. The German shot-stopper has only played one of City’s last five games in all competitions, the FA Cup final.
As has been the case for the final few games of the season, Guardiola left teenage sensation Nico O’Reilly on the bench against the Cottagers. The 54-year-old used Josko Gvardiol at left-back with Ruben Dias, who has not missed a minute of football for club or country since March 1, captaining the side from the centre of defence. He was joined at centre-back by Manuel Akanji, who had essentially taken O’Reilly’s place in the team for the final few games of the season. Matheus Nunes started at right-back and continued the strong form he had shown since the start of April.
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January signing Nico Gonzalez made his first start in over a month against the Cottagers as he partnered the ever-present Bernardo Silva in midfield. Ilkay Gundogan played in a slightly more advanced role on the final day of the season and he thrived, scoring an acrobatic overhead kick, his only league goal last season, to give the Sky Blues the lead.
Omar Marmoush kept his place on the right wing, but the 27-year-old was unable to score his first Premier League goal away from the Etihad as he was replaced by Phil Foden in the 82nd minute. The only player to get substituted earlier than Marmoush was Jeremy Doku, who started the game on the left-hand side of the attack. The Belgian failed to complete a dribble all game and he was replaced by Savinho in the 74th minute.
Erling Haaland led the line for City and he scored their second goal of the game from the penalty spot, his first goal since picking up an injury against Bournemouth in late March.
Manchester City’s Recent Form and Tactics
Due to the strange window that the tournament is being held in, it will be interesting to see how much form matters at the Club World Cup. Guardiola will be hoping that it has a positive effect on his team, who have lost just once since March 8, a run which saw them qualify for the Champions League with relative ease and finish just three points behind second-placed Arsenal.
It will also be interesting to see how City’s new signings fit into their tactical system. Cherki is a highly talented, versatile and two-footed attacker, meaning he could be used on either wing or in attacking midfield, and maybe even as a false nine, by the Catalan. Ait-Nouri is a slightly different profile of left-back compared to what City have used recently. Gvardiol and Nathan Ake are natural centre-backs whilst the likes of O’Reilly, Rico Lewis and Joao Cancelo were more comfortable stepping into midfield in possession.
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At the end of last season, Guardiola’s tactics were undeniably dictated by his fear of City being exposed in transition. The former Barcelona manager consistently played players like Silva, Mateo Kovacic and Gundogan, who are good at keeping the ball, instead of explosive youngsters like Doku and Savinho. With Rodri returning from injury and Reijnders, who is an excellent box-to-box midfielder, signing, it will be interesting to see if City deploy a slightly more aggressive, high-tempo system.
Manchester City Injuries to Consider
As it has been three weeks since their last game, it is fairly hard to discern the injury status of City’s squad.
Kovacic has been left out of City’s 27-man travelling squad for the Club World Cup as he had surgery on an Achilles injury that had been plaguing him in the final few weeks of the season. But, City fans also received good news in terms of injuries to midfielders as Rodri is set to be involved in City’s opening group stage game.
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Fan-favourite defender John Stones has also travelled to the USA after recovering from a thigh injury which has seen him miss nearly four months of action. His last appearance was in the Champions League knockout round second leg against Real Madrid. Fellow defender Nathan Ake was an unused substitute in City’s final two league games, but he started once for the Netherlands during the international break.
Oscar Bobb is also set to take part in the newly revamped tournament, almost one year on from an impressive preseason which led to fans and pundits alike predicting the attacker to have a breakout season in 2024/25. The 21-year-old made just four appearances for City last campaign due to injuries, but he appeared twice for Norway in their recent international fixtures.
Manchester City Predicted Lineup Vs Wydad Casablanca
GK: Stefan Ortega Moreno
RB: Rico Lewis
CB: John Stones
CB: Vitor Reis
LB: Nathan Ake
CM: Claudio Echeverri
CM: Nico Gonzalez
CM: Bernardo Silva
RW: Oscar Bobb
LW: Rayan Cherki
ST: Erling Haaland