Urawa Red Diamond v Manchester City: Club World Cup Match,Team News,Goal Scorers And Stats

Date: Tuesday 19th December, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm
Stadium  King Abdullah Sports City
Referee   Mohammed Khleid Hoish (Saudi Arabia)
Goal Scorer:

Urawa Red Diamond
Urawa's semi-final victory against Leon came at quite a cost for the Red Devils, as left-back Takahiro Akimoto, right-back Takahiro Sekine and winger Tomoaki Okubo were all forced off in the second half of Friday's game with injuries of an unspecified nature.

Thankfully for Skorza, his full-back ranks are well-stocked at the minute, and former Marseille defender Hiroki Sakai - who has recently made a full recovery from a knee injury - could now be called upon to deputise for Sekine at the back.

Matchwinner Schalk made his presence well and truly felt in his brief cameo appearance on Friday and will be Skorza's first-choice replacement for Okubo, and he ought to be joined in the final third by Jose Kante, who will hang up his boots at the end of the current campaign.
Urawa Red Diamonds possible starting lineup:
Nishikawa; Sakai, Scholz, Hoibraten, Ogiwara; Iwao, Ito; Schalk, Yasui, Koizumi; Kante

Manchester City
Man City boss Guardiola also has a trio of injury concerns to manage for the semi-final, as Kevin De Bruyne has missed three months of action with his hamstring problem, while Erling Haaland (foot) and Jeremy Doku (muscle) were also absent from the draw with Palace at the weekend.

All three players have been named in Guardiola's travelling party, but it would be a shock to see De Bruyne given the thumbs-up from the medical team, while Haaland should also be spared ahead of a potential final or third-placed playoff, allowing Julian Alvarez another opportunity to impress as City's main marksman.

Guardiola limited himself to just one in-game change on Saturday, but the Catalan coach should not hesitate to ring the changes for the semi-final, offering hope to all of Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic, Kalvin Phillips and Stefan Ortega.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gomez; Nunes, Kovacic; Bobb, Silva, Grealish; Alvarez
Prediction: Urawa Red Diamonds 0-3 Manchester City