How Manchester City line up against Wydad AC will be worth keeping an eye on | OneFootball

Manchester City will take on Moroccan side Wydad AC in their opening Group G fixture of the FIFA Club World Cup on Wednesday. Pep Guardiola’s side will be eager to begin the tournament with a victory. They’ll face a Wydad AC side who will be bidding to cause an upset for the ages in Philadelphia. How Manchester City lines up at the Lincoln Financial Field is worth keeping an eye on.

Manchester City’s goal is to win the tournament. So the potential is there that Pep Guardiola may line up with what could almost be his strongest starting eleven against Wydad. That way, Manchester City could make a strong start to the tournament which could lay a foundation for their Club World Cup campaign.

Will three of the new signings start for Manchester City against Wydad AC?

If you were drawing up Manchester City’s best starting eleven currently, you’d almost certainly include Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki in it. All three players have been brought to the club to fill obvious holes in Pep Guardiola’s squad. Perhaps the best opportunity to give them their first minutes as City players is against Wydad AC. It’s an important game for Manchester City. While it isn’t a game with high stakes, it could set the tone for City’s Club World Cup campaign. That may be the ideal setting to give Ait-Nouri, Reijnders and Cherki their first competitive start. If the trio start, they could hit the ground running as City players. Whether or not any or all of them start on Wednesday is worth watching out for.

Up front, it would seem that Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush could start. Perhaps Jeremy Doku may start on the left wing, but I’d expect Marmoush to start City’s Club World Cup opener in that position. The question mark up front is who will start on the right wing? It seems to be a choice between Phil Foden, Oscar Bobb and Savinho. Although maybe Rayan Cherki starts on the right wing, that’s another possibility. In the case of Bobb and Foden, they did have injury issues last season. So perhaps they’ll be eased into the tournament. If that’s the case Savinho is highly likely to start on the right wing if Cherki starts as a number ten.

Who plays in the City midfield and defence isn’t immediately clear.

When looking at who Pep Guardiola could start in midfield and defence, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias start on the bench for the match against Wydad AC. Both players played in Portugal’s UEFA Nations League final win over Spain. It wouldn’t be a major surprise to see both players eased into the tournament due to this factor.

As mentioned above, if Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki start as the number eight and the number 10 who starts with them in midfield in a deeper role isn’t immediately clear. Perhaps Nico will start with them as a number six. Or maybe Ilkay Gundogan will be the third midfielder in Pep Guardiola’s starting lineup due to his experience. It would be great to see Rodri start, but after such a long injury layoff, he may also need to be eased into the tournament. It would be nice to see Nico O’Reilly start in midfield but that seems unlikely. Manchester City’s midfield is strong on paper so the midfield Guardiola picks should be packed with quality.

In defence, it seems that Josko Gvardiol is a certain starter at centre-back. Especially if Rayan Ait-Nouri starts at left-back. Who starts alongside Gvardiol doesn’t appear to be an obvious selection. If Pep Guardiola wants experience at the back, especially if Ruben Dias is eased into the tournament, Manuel Akanji would likely start. Although, the more exciting possibility would be to see Vitor Reis or Abdukodir Khusanov start alongside Gvardiol. Especially Khusanov. Khusanov figures to be an important part of Manchester City’s squad for next season. Starting City’s Club World Cup opener could give him the confidence of knowing how important he’ll be next season. At right-back, it seems to be a straight choice between Rico Lewis or Matheus Nunes. In goal, I’d expect Ederson to start, although it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Stefan Ortega start in goal on Wednesday.

Summary.

Who Pep Guardiola elects to start against Wydad AC on Wednesday is worth keeping an eye on. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Guardiola select his strongest lineup against the Moroccan side. That way Manchester City can attempt to make a strong start to the tournament and begin the process of integrating new signings and new ideas into Manchester City’s play.