Manchester City take on Morocco’s Wydad AC in their opening contest of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup held at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
It is the first time that Pep Guardiola and his side have taken on competitive action since the conclusion of the 2024/25 Premier League season, when a 0-2 win away to Fulham secured the club’s place in the next edition of the UEFA Champions League.
Manchester City will be wanting to get that winning feeling back almost immediately following their first season without major silverware since Guardiola’s debut campaign at the Etihad Stadium back in 2016/17, and that begins with the Club World Cup.
At present, there is not believed to be any concerns over fitness and injury within the Manchester City camp in the United States, but the likes of John Stones and Rodri may be handed additional time to build up their fitness following recent injuries.
It also remains to be seen how much the likes of Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva are involved in the first game, as well as those present with their respective national teams during the recent break, although all such names have trained as normal over the last few days.
Ahead of Manchester City’s upcoming FIFA Club World Cup clash against Wydad AC, here is how we predict Pep Guardiola will line-up his side at Lincoln Financial Field on Wednesday afternoon!
Predicted XI
With the starting line-up for the opening game of a brand new tournament next to impossible to predict, take this selection with a pinch of salt, and come back to it with an open invitation to laugh at just how badly wrong this has gone for us.
