Soccer
Former captain shares his expectations for Manchester City at the FIFA Club World Cup
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Manchester City will look to put a disappointing season behind them this month, when they head to the USA to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup, a tournament you can see live for free on DAZN.
Pep Guardiola's side ended the campaign trophyless after finishing third in the Premier League and losing the FA Cup Final to Crystal Palace, but the competition in America gives them an opportunity to get back that winning feeling ahead of the new season.
However, the City boss has already spoken of his concerns about a stretched squad, and former captain Richard Dunne thinks that could have an impact on their success in the revamped Club World Cup.
Speaking exclusively to DAZN News, thanks to William Hill Vegas, Dunne thinks his old side will be competitive but isn't convinced of victory.
"Pep Guardiola has spoken about this, Manchester City can’t go all out to win the Club World Cup," he said.
"The players are tired. They had the Euros last summer, another tournament this summer and then they’ll have the World Cup to look forward to next year. It’s very difficult to keep the squad on its toes and keep them going.
"City will be competitive and they'll win the games you'd expect them to win, but when they get to the end of the competition, it might be difficult.
"The prize money is huge, but a lot of the clubs are going into it thinking their own domestic league, certainly the Premier League, is the most valuable in the world.
"So I'm sure City would like to be prepared for the start of the new Premier League season, as much as they would like to win the Club World Cup.”
If City aren't Dunne's picks for the tournament, then who does the Irishman fancy to lift the trophy in the USA?
Well, he believes that you can never rule out Real Madrid in this type of competition, but also thinks the new European champions could be a real danger, too.
Adding, “I would look at Real Madrid - they're desperate to win the Club World Cup because they want to be the biggest and the best and win everything all the time.
"They've obviously made their change of manager to prepare for it and they've spent £10 million that they didn't need to on Trent Alexander-Arnold to get him in for the competition.
"They've not won La Liga, they had a poor Champions League by their standards, so this is a huge competition for them.
“But if Paris Saint-Germain want to win it, they’re the team everyone has to fear because of the quality they've got. They are a hungry side and they'd be my favourites to win.”
Manchester City are in Group G, alongside Juventus, Al Ain and Wydad.
Watch all 63 matches of the 2025 Club World Cup live on DAZN. More information and to sign up for a free account here.
