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Marshall: Man City line-up vs Al Ain predicted with debut given and Erling Haaland decision made

Manchester City continue their Club World Cup campaign in Atlanta on Sunday as they face Al Ain.

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Rayan Ait-Nouri

Rayan Ait-Nouri is expected to make his City debut against Al Ain

Pep Guardiola has already signalled his intent to make changes in Atlanta as Manchester City return to action in the Club World Cup.

Guardiola said his side would have "10 new players" against the UAE Pro League side, and he is treating the early stages of this competition as a chance to get minutes into every player in his squad.

City have a 27-man squad out in the States, including three goalkeepers, and Guardiola's priority is to at least give his 24 outfield players some action against either Wydad AC, Al Ain, or Juventus before heading into the knockout stages.

That aim is made a little more difficult by the competitive nature of the tournament, with FIFA rules restricting teams to making five substitutes, when pre-season friendlies would normally see many more than that.

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So we can be sure that Guardiola will swap every outfield player who started against Wydad AC. His post-match comments about 10 changes suggest that Ederson might expect to keep his place, but it would be no surprise if Stefan Ortega was given a chance in one of the group games.

Guardiola will also have to factor in conditions into his selections and substitutions. Temperatures are predicted to still be 30 degrees in Atlanta, even at 8m, but whatever side he picks should have enough to see off a team that was beaten 5-0 by Juventus in their opening group game.

It would make sense to give Ortega a game in goal, and this fixture is an obvious one for the German to start. Ederson had his injury problems last season, so Ortega needs some minutes under his belt in pre-season.

Rico Lewis is suspended, but wouldn't have played anyway. We can expect Matheus Nunes to start at right-back, and there will be a debut at left-back, with Rayan Ait-Nouri set to come in having been an unused substitute against Wydad AC.

There are a few options at centre-back and it might be that Abdukodir Khusanov starts this easier group game alongside Josko Gvardiol, with Ruben Dias coming in for the stiffer assignment against Juventus.

Rodri got 30 minutes on Wednesday, but this might still be too soon for him to start. Nico Gonzalez can play that holding midfield role, with Ilkay Gundogan and Claudio Echeverri rounding off the midfield.

Erling Haaland also got 30 minutes in Philadelphia and he can start this game. Oscar Bobb is also pushing for a start and Bernardo Silva, unused against Wydad AC, will come into the team for his first competitive game as club captain.

Predicted XI: Ortega, Nunes, Khusanov, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri, Gonzalez, Gundogan, Echeverri, Bernardo, Bobb, Haaland

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