Manchester City and Urawa Red Diamonds have confirmed their starting lineups for tonight’s FIFA Club World Cup semi-final. The winner will face Fluminense in the final, after their 2-nil win over Al Ahly in yesterday’s semi-final. The loser will take on Al Ahly in the third-place playoff. For the European champions tonight’s game begins their quest to add more silverware to their haul for 2023. They are also bidding to become the first team to win the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup in a year. For Urawa Red Diamonds the game gives them the opportunity to upset City and forge their own legacy in the tournament.
Here are the starting lineups ahead of what could be an enthralling semi-final.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola has made four changes to the side that drew 2-all against Crystal Palace last weekend. In comes Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic. Meanwhile, Josko Gvardiol, Rico Lewis, Julian Alvarez and Ruben Dias drop to the bench.
Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku will both miss tonight’s match due to injury.
Starting lineup: Ederson, Walker (C), Stones, Akanji, Ake, Rodrigo, Kovacic, Nunes, Bernardo, Grealish, Foden.
Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Dias, Phillips, Alvarez, Gomez, Gvardiol, Bobb, Alleyne, Susoho, Lewis, Hamilton.
Our #ClubWC line-up! 🩵
XI | Ederson, Walker (C), Stones, Akanji, Ake, Rodrigo, Kovacic, Nunes, Bernardo, Grealish, Foden
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Dias, Phillips, Alvarez, Gomez, Gvardiol, Bobb, Alleyne, Susoho, Lewis, Hamilton#ManCity pic.twitter.com/Dz7dupgSGn
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 19, 2023
Urawa Red Diamonds
Starting lineup: Nishikawa, Ito, Hoibraten, Koizumi, Kante, Sekine, Akimoto, Iwao, Okubo, Yasui, Scholz.
Substitutes: Niekawa, Yoshida, Sakai, Iwanami, Linssen, Nakajima, Schalk, Shibato, Ogiwara, Panya, Koroki, Ohata.