The Croatian midfielder plays for the first time after his summer move from Chelsea.
Kyle Walker will captain the side against our CFG sister club and current Japanese champions at a sold-out Japan National Stadium.
HOW TO FOLLOW CITY’S 2023 ASIA TOUR
James McAtee is back in blue after a successful season-long loan at Sheffield United in 2022/23.
With the Blues in action for the first time since last month’s Champions League final triumph, there are sure to be changes throughout the game in the heat and humidity of Tokyo.
Teams
CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Walker (C), Stones, Akanji, Ake, Phillips, Kovacic, McAtee, Palmer, Grealish, Alvarez
Subs: Ederson, Carson, Dias, Cancelo, Haaland, Laporte, Rodrigo, Bruyne, Silva, Gómez, Perrone, Foden, Bobb, Lewis
YOKOHAMA F. MARINOS XI: Ichimori, Matsubara, Hatanaka, Eduardo, Nagato, Watanabe, Kida, Junior, Mizunuma, Lopes, Elber
Subs: Iikura, Shirasaka, Kanijima, Saneto, Yoshio, Yamane, Kimura, Sakakibara, Uenaka, Inoue, Matheus, Miyaichi, Murakami, Sugimoto
Tactics
Stefan Ortega Moreno will play in goal, with a defence of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake ahead of him in what appears to be a flat back four.
Kalvin Phillips will be the deepest of the midfielders and should be flanked by Mateo Kovacic and James McAtee, who will both be looking to impress.
The front three will consist of Cole Palmer and Jack Grealish either side of Julian Alvarez.
EARLY SIGNS
After the exertions of last season - the Blues finished three weeks later than most Premier League rivals in order to win the Treble - our players only returned to training on Monday.
A couple of days at the CFA followed before it was straight on a plane to Tokyo.
Since landing, Guardiola‘s men have put through their paces on the pitch and in the gym. However, this is our first game since that fateful night in Istanbul.
As always at this time of year, expect a slightly different lineup and plenty of rotation.
No doubt the boss will be using this fixture to see where his players stack up fitness wise, and if they can implement any new plans he may have for the 2023/24 campaign.
WATCH OUR ASIA TOUR MATCHES ON CITY+ OR RECAST
CITY+ and Recast will exclusively show all pre-season tour games live in the UK.
The meeting with Yokohama F. Marinos on 23 July is available only for viewers in the UK, while fans in the UK and Germany can watch our Bayern Munich clash on 26 July.
We face Atletico Madrid on 30 July, with fans all over the world (except South Korea) able to watch the action.
CITY+ is also where you will find the entire catalogue of City Studios documentaries and vodcasts.
Watchable through our official website or app*, CITY+ is available via an annual subscription of £34.99 a year, saving you £24 on our monthly offering.
Choose monthly and pay £4.99 a month with the option to cancel anytime.
Official Cityzens and Season Ticket Members can subscribe annually for £30 a year, a saving of £29.
Alternatively, you can join us on Recast for a flexible, pay-per-view option on all the same exciting content found on CITY+.
Simply follow our official channel and pay for the matches, documentaries, full-match replays and vodcasts you want to see.
*Tour matches will not be available to watch on our TV app due to regional restrictions
