Predicted Starting Line-Up: Manchester City vs Al Ain (FIFA Club World Cup Group Stage) | OneFootball

Manchester City embark on their second match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup by travelling to Atlanta, Georgia to take on the UAE’s Al Ain.

It was an opening matchday win for Pep Guardiola’s side as they opened up their account in the United States with a 2-0 victory over Moroccan outfit Wydad AC courtesy of goals from Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku.

Up next is a clash against a side hailing from the same country as Manchester City’s ownership, and one that will no doubt be holding an intent to show a much better account of themselves having lost 5-0 to Juventus on matchday one.

Pep Guardiola will be without Rico Lewis for this one after the defender’s late red card in Philadelphia and subsequent one-match ban, while the City head coach has already confirmed that neither John Stones nor Rodri are ready to start.

Ahead of Manchester City’s upcoming FIFA Club World Cup group stage clash against Al Ain, here is how we predict Pep Guardiola will line-up his side at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday night!

Predicted XI

Following on from indications via Pep Guardiola that Manchester City could field 10 new players from the side that started against Wydad AC, we believe Ederson will be the name to retain his place in the line-up.

Ahead of the Brazil international goalkeeper will be Matheus Nunes coming into the right-back role, largely as a result of Rico Lewis’ suspension and what will be a significant opportunity to further prove his worth in the role.

Moving into the central defensive partnership and we believe Abdukodir Khusanov could make his return to the starting line-up, accompanied by Josko Gvardiol on the left side of the pairing.

And following on from two debuts on matchday one, there is likely to be another first opportunity to catch a glimpse of a new signing, as we anticipate Rayan Ait-Nouri could start his first Manchester City outing.

Heading into the traditional midfield trio and we think it could be a mixture of experience and youth as Nico starts in the deepest-lying role in the continued absence of Rodri from the starting line-ups.

Ahead of the Spaniard and we believe it could be a start for Ilkay Gundogan – who continues to find his future in doubt within mainstream media – partnered by the highly-rated Claudio Echeverri for his first start in a Manchester City shirt.

On the right of a traditional front-three, we think it could be time for the full return of Oscar Bobb after a hugely difficult last 10 months due to fitness and injury concerns for both club and country.

Erling Haaland is highly likely to lead the line after his absence from the line-up against Wydad AC and late substitute appearance in Pennsylvania.

On the left of attack and in what could be anyone’s guess, we’ve decided to throw Bernardo Silva into our selection for the first time as Manchester City captain, and while such a position would be relatively new to the Portuguese star, we’re not ruling anything out.

Starting XI: Ederson; Nunes, Khusanov, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri; Nico, Gundogan, Echeverri; Bobb, Haaland, Bernardo.

Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Bettinelli, Dias, Akanji, Stones, Reis, Ake, O’Reilly, Rodri, Reijnders, Foden, Cherki, Savinho, Marmoush, Doku.

You can watch every single match at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States LIVE and FOR FREE  this summer!