Urawa Red Diamonds managed to beat León in the previous round, despite having problems during the game (1:0). However, they paid a high price for this success. Takahiro Akimoto and Takahiro Sekine were injured. They are most likely to miss the game versus the English side. Tomoaki Okubo will probably miss this match, too.
The Citizens participate in this tournament for the first time in their history after winning the Champions League last season. They still remain the main favourites of the FIFA Club World Cup. However, the current form of the team leaves some questions. The Citizens have only managed to beat Luton Town (2:1) in the last 5 Premier League games. Prior to going to this tournament, Man City didn’t manage to beat a team from the bottom half of the table for the first time in this season. Their game versus Crystal Palace ended in a 2:2 draw.
Both teams have been going through complicated situations. However, the results that Urawa have recently had prove that the Japanese side has more problems. They have won only 3 out of the last 1 games in all tournaments, they have been eliminated from the AFC Champions League, and finished fourth in the Japanese league. Manchester City haven’t been able to keep a clean sheet in the last 8 consecutive matches. Yet they’re one of the best teams in the world, anyway.
Manchester City are a team of another level. But this won’t be reflected in the final results. Haaland and Doku are probably to miss this game.
