Manchester United were hammered 6-3 by Manchester City earlier this season but head into Saturday’s return clash with renewed optimism.
Erik ten Hag’s side are on an eight-match winning run spanning all competitions and a ninth successive victory would move them to within a point of reigning champions City in the Premier League table.
By contrast, Pep Guardiola’s men have been in patchy form of late but can be buoyed by a run of three straight derby wins, with United dispatched 2-0 and 4-1 last term.
Here are projected lineups for both teams heading into the 189th Manchester derby.
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Man United vs Man City lineups
Arsenal face Tottenham in another derby clash on Sunday, so City will hope to close the gap on Mikel Arteta’s men to two points as they play the first game of the weekend.
For United, the motivation is to try to turn this into a three-way title battle by moving right behind City with a morale-boosting triumph.
The calls that each of Teg Hag and Guardiola make could have wide-reaching ramifications.
Manchester United starting 11
(4-3-3): De Gea (GK) — Wan Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw — Fernandes, Casemiro, Fred — Antony, Martial, Rashford
- Injured: Dalot, Van de Beek, Sancho, Martial (doubtful)
- Suspended: None
Diogo Dalot has not recovered from the injury he sustained during the 3-0 Carabao Cup quarterfinal win over Charlton Athletic, meaning Aaron Wan-Bisaka is likely to line up on the right of the back four.
Fred could come in to bolster the United midfield, given City have dominated that area of the pitch during recent derbies. Christian Eriksen would be the favourite to make way, although he could also feature as a false nine if Anthony Martial fails to recover from a minor leg injury, or in midfield if Bruno Fernandes is pushed further forward in Martial’s absence.
An alternative should Martial miss out would be in-form Marcus Rashford lining up at centre-forward, with Alejandro Garnacho coming in on the left wing.
Manchester City starting 11
(4-3-3): Ederson (GK) — Walker, Akanji, Ake, Cancelo — Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne — Mahrez, Haaland, Foden
- Injured: Dias, Stones
- Suspended: None
John Stones has not recovered from the injury that ruled him out of the 2-0 midweek defeat at Southampton in the Carabao Cup, where few of Guardiola’s fringe and back-up players did themselves any favours when it comes to pressing for derby-day inclusion.
Manuel Akanji is most likely to partner Nathan Ake at centre-back, where the Dutchman has been preferred to Aymeric Laporte over recent weeks. Stones’ absence could also influence whether Guardiola plumps for the experience of Kyle Walker at right-back to combat Rashford’s threat or gives the nod to prodigious youngster Rico Lewis.
Kevin De Brunye and Erling Haaland are set to return to the starting XI refreshed having been named on the bench for the cup ties against Chelsea and Saints over the past week. It will be a close call between Phil Foden and Jack Grealish over who joins Haaland and a resurgent Riyad Mahrez in the City forward line.
How to watch Man United vs Man City
The match will be streamed or televised by the following outlets around the world:
| TV channel | Streaming | |
|---|---|---|
| USA | Telemundo, Universo, USA Network | NBC Sports website/app, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo |
| Canada | — | fuboTV |
| UK | BT Sport 1, BT Sport Ultimate | BT Sport website/app |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport Premier League | Sky Go NZ, Sky Sport NOW |
| India | Star Sports Select 1, Star Sports Select HD1 | Jio TV, Hotstar VIP |
| Hong Kong | 620 Now Premier League TV, 621 Now Premier League 1 | now TV |
| Malaysia | Astro Super Sport 3 |
Astro GO, Sooka |
| Singapore | 221 Hub Premier 1, 222 Hub Premier 2 | StarHub TV+ |
UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and BT Sport streaming and TV platforms, with selected matches on Amazon Prime. BT has the rights to this match.
USA: This match can be watched through USA Network and NBC Sports.
Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streaming exclusively via fuboTV in Canada.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.
India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).
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