Manchester City will look to secure an early passage to the knockout rounds at the FIFA Club World Cup when they take on Al Ain.
Pep Guardiola's team, bolstered by new signings Tiijani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki, eased to a 2-0 victory over Wydad AC in their first Group G match.
Abu Dhabi club Al Ain — whose president is UAE ruler Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of City owner Sheikh Mansour — were swatted aside 5-0 by Juventus in their opening match.
Should City and Juve take care of business as expected on matchday two, they will face one another in a shootout for top spot in the group in Orlando on June 26.
MORE: The entire 2025 Club World Cup match schedule & results
Man City vs. Al Ain predicted lineups, team news
Guardiola pledged to select "10 new players" from the side that started against Wydad. Although his alterations might not be quite so wholesale, that will mean a debut for left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, who arrived from Wolves prior to the tournament. There will defintiely be a change at right-back following Rico Lewis' red card last time out.
Rodri is not yet ready to start following his ACL injury, despite playing 30 minutes off the bench in Philadelphia. The same applies to John Stones, who was an unused substitute and has not featured since suffering a thigh injury against Real Madrid in February.
Nico Gonzalez should get a chance in central midfield where Ilkay Gundogan is another rotation option. It remains to be seen whether Guardiola uses the experienced former Germany international, a second-half substitute against Wydad, amid reports linking him with a move to Galatasaray.
Erling Haaland went scoreless off the bench against Wydad but will fancy his chances here.
Man City predicted XI (4-2-3-1 right to left): Ederson (GK) — Akanji, Khusanov, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri — Nico, Silva — Bobb, Echeverri, Marmoush — Haaland
Injured: Kovacic (Achilles)
Suspended: Lewis
MORE: Full list of players, squads for all 32 Club World Cup participants
Full Man City squad
Goalkeepers: Marcus Bettinelli, Stefan Ortega, Ederson
Defenders: Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Vitor Reis, Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis
Midfielders: Tijjani Reijnders, Nico Gonzalez, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Nico O’Reilly
Forwards: Omar Marmoush, Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Rayan Cherki, Claudio Echeverri, Phil Foden, Oscar Bobb
For Al-Ain, there are no fresh injuries or suspensions to contend with. Head coach Vladimir Ivic is likely to deploy a back five in front of veteran Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
The plan will be for a defence marshalled by on-loan Porto defender Fabio Cardoso to soak up pressure and try to hit City on the break. Experienced forward Kodjo Laba has 20 goals in 21 appearances domestically this season and caught the eye against Juve.
"It was a shock," Ivic said of the Juventus defeat. "[The players] didn’t know exactly what level is Juventus. Because of that, I say that I am not sure all of them are watching European football. We show them the opponent every time, we explain to them against who we play, this is normal in our job.
“But we go game by game. We believe in ourselves. We will give our maximum to see where we are when we play against a team like City.
Al-Ain predicted XI (5-3-2, right to left): Patricio (GK) — Traore, Ratnik, Rabia, Cardoso, Zabala — Kaku, Nader, Park — Chadli, Laba.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Full Al Ain squad
Goalkeepers: Vedad Alibasic, Khalid Eisa, Hassan Muhammed, Rui Patricio
Defenders: Kouame Autonne, Yahya Benkhaleq, Khalid Alhashmi, Fabio Cardoso, Erik, Dramane Koumare, Adis Jasic, Amadou Niang, Ramy Rabia, Marcel Ratnik, Facundo Zabala
Midfielders: Mohammed Abbas, Nassim Chadli, Erik, Jonatas, Yahia Nader, Matias Palacios, Joshua Odo, Soufiane Rahimi, Mateo Sanabria, Matias Segovia, Abdoul Karim Traore, Park Yong-woo
Forwards: Mohamed Awadalla, Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba, Kaku, Josna Loulendo, Houssine Rahimi, Rilwanu Sarki
Man City vs. Al Ain score prediction
City might struggle for fluency at times after Guardiola's pledge to send out a heavily rotated team, but they are still likely to be far too strong, especially with the likes of Haaland and Omar Marmoush keen to open their Club World Cup accounts.
Prediction: Man City 4-1 Al Ain
Man City vs. Al Ain live stream, TV channel
All matches across the entirety of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be streamed for free on DAZN across the globe. In addition, some matches may be televised in certain regions as per DAZN's deals with local networks and services.
Here's how to watch this 2025 Club World Cup group stage match across selected areas of the world's major regions:
| Date | Time | TV channel | Streaming | |
| USA | Sun, Jun. 22 | 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT | — | DAZN |
| Canada | Sun, Jun. 22 | 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT | — | DAZN |
| UK | Mon, Jun. 23 | 2 a.m. BST | Channel 5 | DAZN |
| Australia | Mon, Jun. 23 | 11 a.m. AEST | — | DAZN, Kayo Sports, Foxtel Now |
| India | Mon, Jun. 23 | 7:30 a.m. IST | — | DAZN, tabii |