Manchester City are back in action on Monday in the Club World Cup and Pep Guardiola has suggested he will ring the changes for that game.
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Pep Guardiola chats to Man City players
Pep Guardiola will make plenty of changes for City's second game at the Club World Cup
The Club World Cup is part record-breaking, money-spinning duel to be crowned champions of the world, and for the European clubs at least, part pre-season jaunt.
As much as there is a desire to win the tournament, this trip across the Atlantic also has to serve as a pre-season for the likes of Manchester City. Go all the way to the final at the MetLife in mid-July, and it will only be a month before the start of the Premier League season.
How far clubs go in the competition will determine how they finalise preparations for the domestic kick-off. Exit in the last 16, and it might require another mini pre-season. Reach the final, and it might be a couple of weeks off and then back into training ahead of the start of the Premier League season.
Pep Guardiola's side have been handed an ideal draw in many ways. Their two easiest group fixtures are up first before a meeting with Juventus in Orlando. Then, Real Madrid, RB Salzburg, or Al Hilal could lie in wait in the last-16.
Keep progressing deep into the tournament, and it may be that Guardiola starts to regularly field his strongest side, or at least the nucleus of his strongest XI. But for now, he has made it clear that these games, as competitive as they are in theory, are also fixtures where he needs to get minutes into every player.
Having seen off Wydad AC in Philadelphia, attention now turns to Al Ain in Atlanta. Speaking after the game on Wednesday, Guardiola made it clear that changes were coming.
“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," he said.
"Next game, ten new players will be there to try and win the next one."
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As this is a competitive tournament, only five substitutes are permitted, which makes it a little harder for players to get minutes. Guardiola has suggested that there will be ten changes against Al Ain, and presumably, they will come in outfield positions.
Four outfield players completed 90 minutes on Wednesday - Nico O'Reilly, Nathan Ake, Vitor Reis and Tijjani Reijnders - and it's probably safe to assume none of those will feature at all in the second game. Rico Lewis would have played the full game but for his late red card and is now suspended for a game he was unlikely to play in. Savinho was taken off in injury time for Matheus Nunes and is also likely to be rested.
Ruben Dias, John Stones, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Josko Gvardiol, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez, Claudio Echeverri and Bernardo Silva didn't feature at all against Wydad AC, while Nunes only got a few minutes in injury time. The majority of those will likely start against Al Ain.
Rodri, Oscar Bobb and Erling Haaland played the final 30 minutes. Rodri and Bobb are continuing their recoveries from serious injuries and might continue to get minutes from the bench, but Haaland might be ready to start. Ilkay Gundogan was the final outfield player involved, playing the final 21 minutes.
Guardiola wants to use all 24 of his outfield players in the travelling squad during this tournament, and the plan is likely to be to use them all in the group stage. He has already made it clear that wholesale changes are coming in Atlanta.
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