Live from the capital of the nation that is strongly angling to become the next epicenter of the sport of football, it’s the Club World Cup.
Manchester City, as the reigning European champions (also the reigning English champs) for the invite to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for a quick, mid-week tournament. They’ll take on Japan’s finest, the Urawa Reds, in the tourney semifinals.
Manchester City vs Urawa Reds FC FYIs
Kickoff: Tues Dec. 19, King Abdullah Sports City
Where: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 9pm local
Competition: Club World Cup Semifinals
Man City Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Predictions:
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
City are looking like anything but the reigning treble holders that they are. They dropped two points in stoppage time, to Crystal Palace, earlier today. That now means they have just one win in their last six matches. Yikes! How non-Man Citylike.
They’re now winless in their last three home league fixtures, and that hasn’t happened since 2016, the first year of the Pep Guardiola era. They need a win here, so Pep will play some starters in his first team on Tuesday night. However, in taking on a side like this from a much weaker league, you will no doubt see some squad rotation.
It will somewhat resemble a cup competition/European football dead rubber match kind of lineup.
Man City Starting 11 Prediction vs Urawa Reds (Club World Cup Semis)
Stefan Ortega; Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Gomez; Kalvin Phillips, Mateo Kovacic; Jack Grealish, Matheus Nunes, Phil Foden; Oscar Bobb
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.