Ruben Dias, Rico Lewis and Julian Alvarez come into the side, with Manuel Akanji, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes, who all started the semi-final victory over Urawa Red Diamonds, moving to the bench.
Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku remain sidelined through injury.
Teams
Manchester City
Starting XI: Ederson, Walker (C), Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, Lewis, Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Alvarez
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Kovacic, Gomez, Gvardiol, Akanji, Nunes, Bobb, Alleyne, Susoho, Hamilton
Fluminense: Fabio, Xavier, Felipe Melo, Nino, Marcelo, Andre, Martinelli, Ganso, Keno, Jhon Arias, Cano
Subs: Rangel, Eudes, Marlon, Alexsander, Kennedy, Daniel, Gomes, dos Santos, Gonzalez, Mendanha, David, Lima
Next Fixture
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Tactics
It’s a fluid system, as always, for Guardiola’s City.
Ederson starts in goal, a master shot-stopper and distributer of the ball. He is vitally important to the way City play.
Kyle Walker, who captains City on this historic occasion, will play at right-back, with Nathan Ake, arguably our best defender in one-v-one situations, on the left.
John Stones will start alongside the returning Dias at the heart of the defence, with the Barnsley-born centre-half stepping into midfield when we have possession.
Rodrigo is the world’s finest defensive-midfielder, a player who appears to cruise through games, making them look easy when they’re anything but. He will sit deep and provide protection to the back four, but he so often loiters on the edge of the area in dangerous positions when we attack.
Academy graduate Lewis will play just ahead of him and provide guile and control.
And up top, Bernardo Silva will operate on the right, which he did to great effect in Wednesday’s semi-final win, with Jack Grealish on the left.
And Phil Foden looks likely to operate in a central role behind out-and-out striker Alvarez.
Elite competition
One look at the list of past winners of this competition, and it becomes immediately clear City would be in esteemed company if we were to win this final.
Sao Paulo, Corinthians, AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich… the world’s elite have all carved their name into this great trophy.
For City, winning it at the first attempt is a huge priority - and after securing a 3-0 victory in the semi-final against Urawa Red Diamonds, Guardiola made his intentions abundantly clear.
“It’s the first time Manchester City is here,” he said. “I represent this incredible organisation and club and now we will play the final against Fluminense.
“This is the last step - a title the club doesn’t have. So we’ll go for it.”
History beckons
City are 90 minutes away from significant history.
Should Guardiola’s side defeat Copa Libertadores winners Fluminense this evening in Jeddah, we will become the first English side in history to hold the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup at the same time.
It would be a remarkable achievement and further evidence of this squad’s excellence in every department.
There can be no more inspiration than this; victory tonight would cap a very special 2023 for Manchester City.
Every match at the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup is available to watch in the UK on TNT Sports and FIFA+. For fans outside of the UK, click here to find out how you can watch the matches in Saudi Arabia.
The official Man City app will also have free live radio commentary as part of our usual Matchday Live show that includes studio guests previewing and analysing the action.
