City make five changes for Manchester derby

Returning to the starting XI are  Ederson, Jeremy Doku, Rodrigo Phil Foden and Ruben Dias.

Making way are Stefan Ortega Moreno, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes, Manu Akanji and the injured Jack Grealish.

TEAMS

CITY:  Ederson, Walker (C), Dias, Stones, Aké, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Haaland, Doku, Foden

Subs: Stefan Ortega, Kovačić, Alvarez, Gómez, Gvardiol, Akanji, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis

MAN UNITED:  Onana, Dalot, Lindelof, Evans, Varane, Casemiro, Mainoo, McTominay, Fernandes (C), Garnacho, Rashford

Subs: Bayindir, Amrabat, Eriksen, Amad, Antony, Kambwala, Forson, Collyer, Ogunneye

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FORMATION

No tactical surprises are expected judging by today’s line-up.

Ahead of goalkeeper Ederson will be Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake at right back and left-back respectively.

Dias and John Stones will take up the central defensive berths while Rodrigo will anchor a midfield that is likely to include Kevin De Bruyne and Foden.

Bernardo and Doku are likely to be on the flanks with Erling Haaland down the middle.

Of course, Bernardo and Foden may start as either/or in each position stated above!

WATCH: Manchester United 0-3 City: Extended highlights

CITY’S HUGE MONTH

It’s hard to imagine a tougher run of fixtures for City.

United today, a Champions League second leg to negate, Liverpool away next Sunday, Newcastle United in the FA Cup,, Arsenal at home followed by Aston Villa at the Etihad a few days into April.

It’s a mammoth task for any team and it’s impossible to predict what will happen and what effect it will have on our bid to win silverware.

The best case scenario is that we win all our games - and a City in top gear are more than capable of that, but Pep Guardiola will insist each game is a final and we don’t look beyond the next fixture - which happens to be the Manchester derby.

The Reds have been unpredictable this season, capable of highs and lows and we’ll not know which United turned up today until the final whistle has blown.

The pressure to keep winning is intense - Spurs, Villa and Liverpool were all either drawing or losing going into the last 10 minutes or so of their games yesterday, yet all ended up winning.

It’s hard to see Arsenal dropping points against Sheffield United on Monday evening, so three points feel like a minimum requirement this afternoon.

On the plus side, if one team is used to that must-win mentality, it is Guardiola‘s City who seem to positively enjoy this kind of pressure!

Stats and facts

●      City have won four of their last five Premier League meetings with Manchester United (L1), as many as their previous 13 beforehand (D3 L6).

●      Manchester United have lost their visit to the Etihad Stadium in the last two Premier League seasons, shipping 10 goals in the process (4-1 in 2021-22, 6-3 in 2022-23). The Red Devils last had a longer run of successive away league defeats to rivals City from August 1952 to September 1955 (4 in a row).

●      No fixture in Premier League history has seen more away wins than  City v Man Utd (22, level with Aston Villa v Liverpool). Indeed, of the 54 fixtures to be played 40+ times in the competition, the Manchester derby sees the highest proportion of away wins (42% - 22/53).

●     City have scored in each of their last 54 home games in all competitions. A goal here would equal their club record of scoring in 55 consecutive home games between January 2012 and January 2014.

●      City have kept three clean sheets in their last four Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 20. They’re looking to record three consecutive shutouts for the first time since December 2021, but they haven’t kept a clean sheet in both league meetings with Manchester United in a campaign since 1973-74.

●      Manchester United’s loss to Fulham last time out was their 10^th Premier League defeat of the season – only in 2013-14 and 2021-22 (both 12) have they ever lost more in a single campaign.

●      City manager Pep Guardiola has won eight of his 15 Premier League meetings with Manchester United (D2 L5). Only Arsène Wenger (12) has ever won more against them in the competition, while Guardiola is the only manager to win at least half of his meetings with the Red Devils (min. 10 meetings).

●      Against no side has City striker Erling Haaland scored more Premier League goals than his five against Manchester United. Indeed, only Sergio Agüero (8) has scored more Manchester derby goals for the Citizens in the competition than Haaland.

●      Phil Foden has been involved in nine goals in his last 10 Premier League appearances for City, scoring five and assisting four. Overall he has 16 goal involvements this season (9 goals, 7 assists), his joint-most in a single league campaign.

●      Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes could make his 150^th Premier League appearance in this match. Though the Portuguese has created more chances than any other player in the competition this term (74), his rate of a goal or assist every 281 minutes this term is his lowest in any of his five campaigns.