Brazilian Serie A side Fluminense are attempting to shock Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund as the two sides clash in the Club World Cup group stage.
Fluminense come into this game sat 6th in Serie A with 20 points from 11 games. It's been a solid start to the campaign for Fluminense, who many will feel are fortunate to be part of this competition having slumped to a 13th place finish last season. However, given they won the Copa Libertadores back in 2023, they were awarded with a place in the inaugural edition of this competition.
The Brazilian side are on their third manager of the last year, with Renato Gaucho replacing Mano Menezes back in April, after he'd replaced fan favourite Fernando Diniz, who was relieved of his duties following last season's poor showing. Fluminense have played well since Gaucho's arrival so they'll feel like momentum is on their side heading into this tournament.
In terms of familiar names, Thiago Silva captains the side at the back, while former Brazil internationals Ganso and Renato Augusto make a pair of very experienced midfield options.
Borussia Dortmund have had a fairly volatile campaign. Under the guidance of former player Nuri Sahin, Dortmund's form was very unreliable, which led to them replacing him with former Bayern Munich manager Niko Kovac. Since Kovac's arrival, Dortmund have steadily improved and they finished the season extremely strongly, securing a spot in next season's Champions League, despite having to make up a lot of ground.
The 2023-24 Champions League finalists have been Germany's best-performing club in Europe in recent years so they'll fancy their chances of going far in this competition. Striker Serhou Guirassy has been the team's standout performer this season and has been an absolute sniper in front of goal. The forward bagged 21 goals in the Bundesliga and a whopping 13 goals in 14 games in the Champions League, making him the competition's top scorer.
Dortmund's squad also contains Jamie Gittens after the club failed to agree a deal with Chelsea for his transfer, while Carney Chukwuemeka will also be involved with the German club before his loan ends. The most excitement, though, likely centres around Jobe Bellingham, who will make his debut for the club in this competition after completeing a trandfer from Sunderland.
Ultimately, Dortmund probably have too much quality and are in too good a shape for Fluminense to pull off a shock here. We're backing the Bundesliga outfit to run out fairly comfortable winners.
Fluminense 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
