Premier League | Gameweek 16

Dec 15, 2024 at 4.30pm UK

Etihad Stadium

Man Cityvs.Man Utd

Match preview

Pep Guardiola is in no way walking in a winter wonderland after Man City's latest chastening night on the continent, as Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie gave Juventus a 2-0 win over the English champions.

The tide had seemingly turned when Nottingham Forest arrived at the Etihad battered and bruised after a 3-0 defeat, but City reverted to their Premier League ways at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park, where they twice had to come from behind to claim a share of the spoils.

Now reeling from their seventh defeat in 10 games in all competitions - a run of form that would rightly see most managers not named Guardiola sacked - Man City are barely clinging on to a top-four finish in the Premier League, eight points behind leaders Liverpool at the time of writing.

A result against them on Saturday could see City drop out of the Champions League ahead of the derby, but if there is one crumb of comfort for the Citizens faithful to cling on to, it is the fact that their stuttering side have scored three goals in back-to-back home games against Feyenoord and Forest.

However, Nuno Espirito Santo's men are the only side City have kept a clean sheet against during their miserable 10-game run, with Guardiola's men conceding at least two goals in each of the other nine matches, including four against an Amorim-inspired Sporting Lisbon before the Portuguese answered the call at Old Trafford.

While City's Scandinavian sensation Erling Haaland had no answer to Juve's defensive prowess in the Champions League, Man United's Nordic marksman Rasmus Hojlund provided the spark that got his teammates, particularly Andre Onana, off the hook against Viktoria Pilsen.

Man United's number one was responsible for Matej Vydra's opener in the Europa League, but Hojlund's brace off the bench put Amorim in an exclusive club of Man United managers; only Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson won both their first two continental games in charge of the club.

Victory in Europe was the perfect antidote to back-to-back Premier League defeats at the hands of Arsenal and, surprisingly, Nottingham Forest, who also capitalised on moments of horror from Onana and his defence last weekend to leave the Red Devils unhappily 13th in the table.

With scepticism and criticism of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's involvement growing amid the turmoil behind the scenes, Amorim could do worse than to repeat the stunning 4-1 thrashing of City with Sporting, but the omens are not good for Man United.

Indeed, the Red Devils have failed to win any of their last five Premier League games away from home, only beating Southampton away from home in the top flight this season, and have just two wins from their last 13 league games away from home.

Man City have also beaten their former neighbours in each of the last three meetings at the Etihad and, should Guardiola's men go down to a derby defeat on Sunday, Amorim will have suffered three successive top-flight defeats for the first time in his young managerial career.

Recent Performance

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Manchester City form (all competitions):LDLWDL

Manchester United Premier League form:DWDWLL

Manchester United form (all competitions):DWWLLW

Team News

City defender Rico Lewis, who scored a controversial equaliser against Crystal Palace, will miss the Manchester derby through suspension and is one of six Citizens to miss the visit of the Red Devils.

Rodri (ACL), Oscar Bobb (leg) and Nathan Ake (thigh) are out until 2025, while Manuel Akanji (unspecified) and John Stones (foot) are also set to miss Sunday's blockbuster, which could force Guardiola to bring in an inexperienced academy graduate at the back.

Either Jahmai Simpson-Pusey - at centre-back - or Josh Wilson-Esbrand - at left-back - should fill the void left by Lewis in a depleted rearguard, but Guardiola has also hinted that he may experiment with playing some players out of position or switching to a three-man backline with full-backs.

In rare positive injury news, Mateo Kovacic returned to the bench in midweek and should be in contention for a place in midfield.

In contrast, Man United's sickbay is virtually empty apart from the perennially injured Luke Shaw, who recently suffered a setback in his recovery from a calf problem, but Jonny Evans is training and is in with a good chance of making the squad on Sunday.

Amorim's changes have grabbed the headlines in his early days at the club and the Portuguese will undoubtedly make a number of changes for derby day, with Joshua Zirkzee and Marcus Rashford both in danger after their tepid performances in midweek.

Indeed, two of Hojlund's men, Mason Mount and Alejandro Garnacho - who could pose all sorts of problems for an out-of-sorts Kyle Walker - should be part of the attacking trident, and it will be fascinating to see if Amorim feels Leny Yoro is ready for a game of this magnitude.

Possible starting lineup

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Walker, Dias, Simpson-Pusey, Gvardiol; De Bruyne, Kovacic; Silva, Foden, Nunes; Haaland

Manchester United possible starting lineup:

Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez; Diallo, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dalot; Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund