Kevin De Bruyne will start as captain for Manchester City in his 22nd and final Manchester derby against rival Manchester United in this afternoon’s clash at Old Trafford.
The legendary playmaker announced on Friday that he will be leaving the Citizens at the end of the season when his contract expires.
Pep Guardiola has made four changes to the side that beat Leicester City 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, with De Bruyne, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden all starting at the expense of Nico Gonzalez, Savinho, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku.
A back four of Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Nico O’Reilly remains intact, protecting Ederson between the sticks, while Kovacic is set to be supported in midfield by Ilkay Gungodan.
Bernardo Silva could be deployed on the right flank, with De Bruyne potentially operating on the left, as he did in the FA Cup win over Bournemouth at the end of last month, with Foden taking up his favoured central role.
Without the presence of injured top score Erling Haaland in attack, Omar Marmoush will lead the line; the Egyptian has scored five goals in eight Premier League games since joining the club in January.
De Ligt misses out as Shaw returns to Man United squad
As for Man United, Ruben Amorim has made just two changes to the side that lost 1-0 away against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night, with Harry Maguire and Rasmus Hojlund coming in for Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee.
De Ligt has not recovered from a knock in time to be selected in the matchday squad, so he misses out, but but Zirkzee is on the substitutes’ bench which also includes the returning Luke Shaw, who has not played for the Red Devils since December 1 due to a troublesome hamstring injury.
While Andre Onana continues in goal, Maguire is joined in the back three by Noussair Mazraoui and Leny Yoro, as Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu continue as wing-backs.
Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro will link arms in centre-midfield, allowing March’s Premier League Player of the Month Bruno Fernandes to operate further forward with Alejandro Garnacho and Hojlund.
Manchester United starting lineup: Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Mazraoui; Dalot, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dorgu, Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund
Subs: Bayindir, Amass, Kukonki, Lindelof, Shaw, Eriksen, Mount, Obi, Zirkzee
Manchester City starting lineup: Ederson; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Gundogan, Kovacic; Bernardo, Foden, De Bruyne; Marmoush
Subs: Ortega, Grealish, Doku, Nico, Reis, Savinho, Khusanov, Lewis, McAtee
No Data Analysis info
