Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers need little introduction to the next team featured in our FIFA Club World Cup team previews: Manchester City.
But for the completionists, we’ll nevertheless plough through City’s top scorers, assist makers, set-piece specialists and best three assets for the official FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy game.
- READ MORE: How to play the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Fantasy Game
- READ MORE: Club World Cup 2025 Fantasy complete guide
- READ MORE: FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Fantasy – What the bookies’ odds say
MAN CITY: OVERVIEW
Despite their well-documented struggles throughout much of the 2024/25 campaign, Manchester City rallied to end up third in the Premier League.
Not only is that better than the fourth-place finish that Group G rivals Juventus managed in Serie A, it secured City’s return to the Champions League. They exited this year’s tournament at the earliest knock-out stage.
Often found lacking defensively and at times struggling for goals when their star centre-forward misfired or when unavailable, City finished the season without a trophy – not counting the Community Shield – for the first time since Pep Guardiola’s debut campaign in 2016/17.
Yet with all that, the Sky Blues still managed to score the second-most Premier League goals (72) and concede the fourth-lowest tally (44), as well as keeping 13 clean sheets – a number only champions Liverpool could beat in the end.
City technically qualified for this year’s FIFA Club World Cup by winning the 2023 Champions League. They are also the defending Club World Cup champions, having lifted that trophy in their historic 2023 season as well.
As for this summer’s prospects, City’s group stage qualification percentage is, indeed, the highest of any team.
Guardiola’s gang play Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca before facing UAE’s Al Ain. Qualification should be assured by the time of the Matchday 3 showdown with Juventus.
Rayan Ait-Nouri ($5.7m), Rayan Cherki ($7.1m) and Tijjani Reijnders ($6.5m) will be new faces on show.
- READ MORE: FPL new signings: What can we expect from Reijnders at City?
- READ MORE: FPL new signings: How will Ait-Nouri’s City move impact Gvardiol?
GROUP FIXTURES
BOOKIES’ PREDICTIONS
| To Qualify | To Win Group | |
| Manchester City | 91.8% | 64.6% |
| Wydad Casablanca | 7.2% | 1.8% |
| Ai Ain | 17.4% | 3.5% |
| Juventus | 83.6% | 30.1% |
LEAGUE TOP SCORERS
- Erling Haaland ($11m, FWD) – 22
- Phil Foden ($8.1m, MID) – 7
- Omar Marmoush ($8m, FWD) – 7
LEAGUE TOP ASSIST-MAKERS
- Savinho ($6.2m, FWD) – 10
- Ilkay Gündogan ($6m, MID) – 7
- Matheus Nunes ($4.9m, MID) – 6
- Jérémy Doku ($7m, FWD) – 6
SET-PIECE TAKERS
PENALTIES
- Erling Haaland ($11m)
- Omar Marmoush ($8m)
- Matheus Nunes ($4.9m)
- Jérémy Doku ($7.0m)
Erling Haaland ($11.0m) was the only player to take a Premier League penalty for Manchester City this season. Even with his miss in Gameweek 18, he surely remains his team’s go-to guy from the spot – despite Guardiola saying that they “decide on the pitch”
The other man who took one most recently was Omar Marmoush ($8.0m), who missed his effort in City’s FA Cup final loss in May. It remains to be seen whether he’ll try his luck again anytime soon.
Elsewhere this season, Matheus Nunes ($4.9m) took and scored a penalty in the Champions League while Jack Grealish ($6.9m) – who is not in the Club World Cup squad – and Jérémy Doku ($7.0m) did the same in the earlier stages of the FA Cup. Haaland was off the pitch each time.
CORNERS+ INDIRECT FREE-KICKS
- Omar Marmoush ($8.0m)
- Ilkay Gündogan ($6.0m)
- Phil Foden ($8.1m)
Omitting the departed Kevin De Bruyne ($8.0m), who would otherwise have topped the charts, Phil Foden ($8.1m) and Ilkay Gündogan ($6.0m) were initially next in line for corner and indirect free-kick duty this past season. Marmoush has played a prominent role since his arrival, too.
The same trio dominate City’s direct free-kicks as well, with Marmoush typically having been first-choice in the latter stages of the season. Haaland occasionally tries his hand at those too, though.
Cherki could also feature on set plays after his arrival.
TOP FANTASY PICKS
ERLING HAALAND ($11.0M) – FWD
We can talk about a “drop-off” from his record-breaking debut season all we like, but it’s still risky business betting against Haaland.
The Norwegian’s 22 goals made him the third-highest scorer in the Premier League this season, just one behind Alexander Isak despite playing three fewer games (31).
Eight goals in nine Champions League appearances is also hard to ignore as we approach another cup competition that gives City a chance to make amends.
He’s the joint-most expensive player in the official Fantasy Club World Cup game, but a pair of opening matches against two of the smaller sides in this year’s competition are hard to ignore.
After all, just take a look back at how Haaland started this last Premier League season and some time off…
The Norwegian is coming into this tournament off the back of two internationals but nine separates his country’s last fixture with City’s clash with Wydad.
There might be some rotation risk in Matchday 2, however, as the Al Ain game comes less than 72 hours before the Juventus fixture.
JOSKO GVARDIOL ($6.1M) – DEF
For similar reasons (namely their opposition, winning odds and desire to avoid going completely trophyless in 2024/25), picking a City defender seems prudent.
Of Guardiola’s defensive troops, Josko Gvardiol ($6.1m) stands out as the most reliable selection.
The Croatian is able to play at centre-back or as a left-back that loves to bomb forward, versatility which saw him barely miss a game for City this season whilst finishing as FPL’s top-scoring defender.
A shift back into central defence in the latter stages of 2024/25 limited his attacking potential a little, but before that, Gvardiol racked up five goals for the season. Indeed, he scored nine times in 28 outings, including the end of the prior campaign.
Ait-Nouri will be an interesting watch, meanwhile, not just for his own attacking potential but also how much his presence hinders Gvardiol.
OMAR MARMOUSH ($8.0M) – FWD
Picking a third City player then depends on your appetite for risk amid “Pep roulette”.
Two defenders feels like overkill despite the appealing fixtures.
Jérémy Doku ($7.0m) and Savinho ($6.2m) are dangerous on their day but also inconsistent and far from assured of a regular starting spot. Cherki could well end up being a breakout star but we’d ideally like to see him in action first before committing.
That all leaves us with Marmoush. The Egyptian finished the season with the second-highest Premier League goals tally of all City players despite only signing in January. He could have had a few more to his name were it not for a couple of glaring misses in the run-in.
His versatility means he should stand a better chance of more game-time than others as he can cover in a variety of positions. A share of set-pieces adds to his appeal, too. That, and the fact that he costs $3.0m less than Haaland!
No June internationals for Egypt likely furthers his chance of Matchday 1 minutes, too.
Of course, if we catch wind of a start for someone like Oscar Bobb ($4.7m), the young Norwegian attacker could be a solid differential pick – particularly given the bonus points on offer in Club World Cup Fantasy for picking players with a low ownership percentage.
EARLY PREDICTED XI
Now, here’s a look at our early predicted XI for Man City – which, as any semi-experienced FPL player will know, often isn’t the easiest thing to piece together…
Stefan Ortega ($5.1m) is one of the more capable back-up goalies around and has indeed started over Ederson ($5.6m) a few times in the past, particularly in the cups.
Lewis took the right-back slot over from Kyle Walker earlier in the season before ceding it himself to Nunes more often than not by May, who did well advancing from that position. Nico O’Reilly ($4.9m) was given a few run-outs at left-back, too, but Ait-Nouri and Gvardiol provide stiff competition. There is an abundance of centre-halves to choose from, too.
Rodri ($6.2m) has reportedly been given the green light to feature at the Club World Cup after spending the majority of last season on the sidelines recovering from a cruciate ligament tear. Whether he’s deemed fit enough to start the first match is another story, but the Spaniard’s return certainly shakes things up in the middle of the park.
Based on City’s final few line-ups this season it should be one of Reijnders, Nico González ($5.7m), Gündogan or possibly Bernardo starting alongside Rodri, with Mateo Kovačić ($5.6m) absent entirely after undergoing surgery on his Achilles. Rodri – if he features – is capable of playing as a sole defensive midfielder, which could enable Guardiola to field a more attacking second option in the middle.
James McAtee ($4.6m) is also out of the mix for this tournament, and Haaland’s near-certain inclusion as City’s striker of choice leaves three positions up for grabs behind the Norwegian in what was typically a 4-2-3-1 under Guardiola by the end of the season.
Doku, Foden and Marmoush are the likeliest options on the left, with the latter tussling with Cherki to fill in the hole left by De Bruyne and play as a sort of second striker off Haaland. Marmoush could also start on the right, as he did in Gameweek 38, while Cherki, Nunes, Savinho, Foden and Bernardo all have experience playing on that side as well.
As ever with Guardiola, though, guessing is about as good as it gets!
READ MORE OF OUR FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP FANTASY 2025 CONTENT
GROUP A: Palmeiras | Porto | Al Ahly | Inter Miami
GROUP B: PSG | Atletico Madrid | Botafogo | Seattle Sounders
GROUP C: Bayern Munich | Auckland City | Boca Juniors | Benfica
GROUP D: Flamengo | ES Tunis | Chelsea | Los Angeles FC
GROUP E: River Plate | Urawa Red Diamonds | Monterrey | Inter Milan
GROUP F: Fluminense | Borussia Dortmund | Ulsan HD | Mamelodi Sundowns
GROUP G: Manchester City | Wydad Casablanca | Al Ain | Juventus
GROUP H: Real Madrid | Al Hilal | Pachuca | Red Bull Salzburg
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