Juventus and Manchester City battle it out in their final Group G fixture at the FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Thursday.

Both European giants have already qualified for the last 16 and are now seeking to finish top of the group, with Juve currently boasting a slight advantage courtesy of goals scored.

Match preview

After kick-starting their debut Club World Cup campaign with a five-star showing against Al-Ain, Juventus punched their ticket to the knockout rounds with a 4-1 victory over Wydad AC on matchday two in Philadelphia.

Kenan Yildiz ha arguably been Juve’s standout performer in the United States and followed up a strike on matchday one with a superb brace against Wydad - the Turkish star was unfortunate not to claim a hat-trick as Abdelmounaim Boutouil was credited with an early own goal.

Juve endured a challenging 2024-25 campaign on the domestic front as they struggled to convert draws into wins in Serie A - drawing a league-high 16 games en route to sneaking into the top four - but head coach Igor Tudor could hardly have asked for a better start to life at the newly-expanded Club World Cup.

After scoring nine goals to Man City’s eight across the opening two group games, Juventus sit top of Group G by the finest of margins and Tudor’s men can afford to draw Thursday’s “great test” against the Citizens to secure first position.

Juventus will fancy their chances of success on matchday three, as they boast a seven-game unbeaten run across all competitions (W5 D2), while they have won each of their last three meetings with Man City, including a 2-0 Champions League triumph in December 2024.

2023 Club World Cup champions Man City began their Group G campaign with a routine 2-0 victory over Wydad before putting Al-Ain to the sword 6-0 in their second match in Atlanta on Monday.

Amidst uncertainty over his long-term future, Ilkay Gundogan scored twice for the Citizens, while Erling Haaland, Oscar Bobb, Claudio Echeverri and summer signing Rayan Cherki also got their names on the scoresheet as the Citizens cruised to their biggest win since thrashing Ipswich Town by the same scoreline in the Premier League in mid-January.

Despite netting six times, manager Pep Guardiola was disappointed that his Man City side could not score another, as a seventh goal for the Citizens - who are yet to concede in the States - would have given them a slight edge over Juventus in the race for top spot in Group G.

Man City are now required to beat Juventus on Thursday if they wish to finish at the summit and avoid a potential last-16 showdown with familiar foes and Group H favourites Real Madrid, who have faced the Sky Blues in each of the last four Champions League seasons.

Guardiola’s men head into Thursday’s contest having suffered defeat in only one of their last 15 matches in all competitions (W11 D3) - losing the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace - but success has been hard to come by against Juve. Indeed, their only win in seven previous competitive meetings was their very first back in 1976 in the UEFA Cup (1-0).

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Manchester City Club World Cup form:

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Team News

Juventus quartet Mattia Perin (hand), Juan Cabal, Bremer (both knee) and Arkadiusz Milik (muscle) are all unavailable for selection at the Club World Cup as they continue to recover from injury.

Captain Manuel Locatelli recovered from an ankle problem to feature as a second-half substitute in the win over over Wydad and he is now in contention to return to the first XI, although Tudor may decide to stick with Weston McKennie and Khephren Thuram in midfield.

Tudor may in fact name the same starting lineup for the third consecutive match, with former Man City transfer target Andrea Cambiaso and Alberto Costa providing width as wing-back, as in-form Yildiz and Francisco Conceicao link up with Randal Kolo Muani in attack.

As for Man City, Rico Lewis is unavailable for selection as he has been given a further two-match ban for his controversial red card in their Club World Cup opener against Wydad AC, while Claudio Echeverri is ruled out for two to three weeks after he was forced off at half time against Al-Ain with a twisted ankle.

Mateo Kovacic is recovering from Achilles surgery, but Ballon d’Or winner Rodri has made two 30-minute substitute cameos in the group stage, although Guardiola has confirmed that the Ballon d'Or winner is again likely to feature later in the game against Juve, rather than from the start.

Summer signings Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki are all in contention to start, while Ederson, Ruben Dias, Phil Foden, Savinho and Omar Marmoush are among those pushing for a recall after beginning as substitutes last time out.

Juventus possible starting lineup:

Di Gregorio; Savona, Kelly, Kalulu; Costa, Thuram, McKennie, Cambiaso; Conceicao, Yildiz; Kolo Muani

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri; Reijnders, Bernardo; Savinho, Foden, Marmoush; Haaland

We say: Juventus 2-3 Manchester City

A tactical tussle between Tudor and Guardiola is in store on Thursday and both Juventus and Man City will back themselves to come away with maximum points.

The Citizens are in need of the victory to finish top of Group G and we are backing the Premier League side to edge past their Serie A counterparts in an entertaining, end-to-end contest.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Oliver Thomas

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