Club World Cup Preview: Inter vs Urawa Reds – Team News, Line-ups & Prediction | OneFootball

Saturday’s FIFA Club World Cup showdown between Inter and Urawa Red Diamonds has all the making of a ‘make or break’ contest. Lumen Field sets the stage for this high-stakes encounter as both teams look to recover from day-one slumps.

Inter fought back from an early deficit to hold CF Monterrey to a 1-1 draw in their opening game. Sergio Ramos’ header fired the Liga MX outfit in front, but the Nerazzurri pulled one back through Lautaro Martinez on the stroke of halftime.

However, it was far from a desirable start for new head coach Cristian Chivu. More importantly, an unenviable result in Pasadena, California, has narrowed the margin for error. With Inter facing River Plate in their final Group E outing, they must treat this game as a ‘must-win.’

For Urawa, this is an elimination match. The J1 League outfit slipped to a 3-1 defeat to the CONMEBOL heavyweights on day one and cannot afford to lose here. Yet, the odds remain heavily stacked against them for a reason.

There’s a substantial gulf in quality, which doesn’t mean Inter can take the Japanese side lightly. This tournament is an opportunity for Chivu to prove he is a gamble worth taking, but another winless match could derail Inter’s chances of making it to the next stage.

Match Preview

Inter

Inter’s only previous foray into the Club World Cup yielded success in 2010. Coached by Rafael Benitez, Inter strolled to the title, beating Seongnam and Mazamebe via identical 3-0 scorelines en route to their only triumph in this tournament.

Therefore, the day-one draw against Monterrey marked their first winless fixture at the Club World Cup. Facing vastly inferior opposition, Chivu’s charges should be confident of getting into the win column in Seattle. Adding to this sentiment, they thrashed Seongnam in their only previous meeting with an Asian club.

Connoisseurs of action-packed football should look forward to this encounter, considering seven of Inter’s last eight matches have featured at least two goals. Worryingly for Inter fans, the Serie A runners-up have only managed three clean sheets across their 17 previous outings.

Needless to say, Chivu will expect a rare shutout against Urawa amid Inter’s bid to avoid the ignominy of crashing out from the group stages. All eyes will be on Lautaro, who scored in his maiden Club World Cup appearance. That rings especially true after Marcus Thuram’s injury in the curtain-raising fixture via Gianluca Di Marzio.

Urawa Red Diamonds

Urawa significantly dominated second-half possession against River Plate but couldn’t convert their territorial advantage into goals. That defeat maintained the Red Devils’ indifferent form across their last eight games (W2, D3, L3), casting further doubt on their hopes of bouncing back against Inter.

A lack of defensive solidity has been Urawa’s scourge lately. Indeed, they only kept one clean sheet during that eight-game run. Given the attacking threat they’ll encounter, it’s hard to expect Maciej Skorza’s side to turn the corner this weekend.

However, they’ve been nothing if not consistent in front of goal. Urawa scored ten goals in that same sequence, suggesting they could take advantage of Inter’s propensity for conceding cheap goals. With that in mind, another high-scoring contest could be on the cards.

Interestingly, six of Urawa’s last nine matches at the Club World Cup produced 3+ goals. Furthermore, six of their previous seven games featured both teams on the scoresheet.

Team News

In addition to Thuram, Inter will be without star midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu and in-demand center-half Yann Bisseck. Piotr Zielinski should return for the final group clash against River Plate. The same goes for Denzel Dumfries, with Luis Henrique likely to take his place on the wing.

On the other hand, Urawa will heavily rely on Ryoma Watanabe to deliver the goods in the front third after netting six goals in 18 matches this season. Yusuke Matsuo became the first Japanese player to score a Club World Cup goal since 2018, making him another potential threat. Meanwhile, Kai Shibato is the only notable absentee.

Inter vs Urawa Red Diamonds Potential Starting Line-ups

Inter (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Zalewski, Barella, Asllani, Sucic, Dimarco; F. P. Esposito, Martinez.

Urawa Red Diamonds (4-2-3-1): Nishikawa; Ishihara, Boza, Hoibraten, Naganuma; Gustafson, Yasui; Watanabe, Savio, Sekine; Matsuo.

Inter vs Urawa Red Diamonds Prediction

Inter would be naive to confuse this showdown for a walk in the park. They can’t take Urawa for granted but should still have enough firepower to take three points and move a step closer to reaching the knockout stages.