Man City vs Wydad live Club World Cup team news as Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders start

Manchester City begin their defence of the Club World Cup crown they won in Saudi Arabia 18 months ago as they face Wydad AC at Lincoln Financial Field.

The tournament has taken on a very different look since the Blues triumphed in December 2023, with the event now a 32-team jamboree. City also face Al Ain and Juventus in the group stage.

The fixture is a midday kick-off in Philadelphia but temperatures are only expected to reach the late 20s, which should be manageable for City after several days training in the heat of Miami.

It will also be a chance to cast an eye over some of the club's new recruits in the early weeks of the summer. While Marcus Bettinelli is unlikely to feature, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki could all make their debuts.

There will also be new faces on the sidelines, with Pep Lijnders, James French and Kolo Toure now on board as part of Pep Guardiola's backroom team, while the City boss yesterday confirmed that Bernardo Silva had been named new club captain,.

Follow LIVE updates and analysis below as City get their tournament underway.

I don't want to alarm anybody but Pep Guardiola has gone without a holding midfielder again. That is a very attacking lineup, with Tijjani Reinders - last seen talking about how he wants to score the goals that City lacked last season from midfield - the deepest in the middle. Expect plenty of movement forward from the defence to cover that. Foden and Cherki together is a chance for a lot of fun, on top of two wingers and Marmoush.

That's two debuts for City then, with Reijnders and Cherki getting the nod to start. Ait-Nouri is only on the bench. It looks like Reijnders will play at the base of the midfield, but the question is where Cherki