Manchester City faces Manchester United today in the 198th Manchester derby at Old Trafford. Every meeting between the two teams is important given the rivalry and bragging rights at stake. Today’s match is huge for Pep Guardiola’s team. The team needs to get the three points to stay in touch with Arsenal at the top of the English Premier League. Mikel Arteta’s team is in second place, six points behind City at the top of the English Premier League table. City can reduce the gap to three points before Arsenal’s match against Nottingham Forest later today with a win.
They will face a Manchester United team managed by Michael Carrick. Carrick took over as United coach after the dismissal of Ruben Amorim. Once again, City will have to be prepared for the unexpected, as they take on a team with a new manager. City faced Chelsea ahead of their FA Cup and Carabao Cup duties, who were experiencing similar managerial turmoil before the 1-1 draw between the two sides at the Etihad Stadium at the start of January. A similar set of circumstances awaits Pep Guardiola’s side today and they will need to be prepared for anything at Old Trafford.
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Here is the latest news on City’s injuries and City’s expectations to start 11 matches before today’s match.
Latest Manchester City injury news.
Manchester City enters today’s match with six players absent due to injury and international duty. John Stones, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Oscar Pope and Savinho will miss today’s match due to injury. Omar Marmoush remains unavailable due to international duty with Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Pep Guardiola He told the media yesterday He is not sure if Nico will be available for today’s match. A decision on Nico’s fitness for today’s game was due to be made after City’s training yesterday, Guardiola told the media during his pre-match press conference yesterday.
Expect the city starting at eleven.
Gianluigi Donnarumma: James Trafford has started Manchester City’s past two matches, but Donnarumma looks certain to start at Old Trafford.
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Matthews Nunes: I can’t see Pep Guardiola making a surprise at right-back, so Nunes will have to start again.
Max Allen: Allen deserves to start today’s derby at Old Trafford based on his recent form. He looks ready to handle the pressure of playing in a Manchester derby.
Abdelkader Khosanov: As with Allen, Khosanov deserves to start today and his speed and power could be crucial.
Nico O’Reilly: Nathan Ake is playing through injury, which is why I expect Nico O’Reilly to start at left-back.
Rhodri: Rodri looks set to start in midfield today.
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Bernardo Silva: There is no doubt that the Manchester City captain will start at Old Trafford.
Rayan Sharqi: in my opinion, It’s a choice between Foden and Shirkey in the starting line-up against Manchester United today. I’ll give a nod to Shirkey given his display against Newcastle.
Antoine Simeno: Semenyu is my choice to start on the right wing.
Jeremy Doku: Doku was devastating against Newcastle and is my pick to start on the left wing.
Erling Haaland: Manchester City’s top scorer is suffering from fatigue, but will start attacking as usual. Haaland generally shines on derby day and I expect a big performance from the Norwegian international.