City make three changes for 188th Manchester derby | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has made three changes to his side for this afternoon's Manchester derby.

John Stones, Ruben Dias and Rodri, who all started our 3-0 win at Wolves prior to the international break, make way, with Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan and Nathan Ake coming into the XI.

Stones misses the game having been forced off during England’s draw with Germany in midweek.

Dias moves to the bench for this one, but Rodri isn't fully fit and misses out completely.

Kalvin Phillips remains sidelined with a shoulder issue, which has seen him undergo surgery in a bid to be for for the winter World Cup.

Teams

City

XI: Ederson, Walker, Akanji, Ake, Cancelo, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Foden, Haaland

Subs: Ortega-Moreno, Carson, Dias, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Palmer, Lewis

United

XI: De Gea, Martinez, Fernandes, Rashford, Malacia, Eriksen, Varane, Dalot, Antony, Sancho, McTominay

Subs: Heaton, Lindelof, Ronaldo, Martial, Fred, Casemiro, Shaw, Pellistri, Elanga

City tactics

4-3-3 for City today.

Ederson starts in goal, with his distribution a vital aspect of City’s build-up play.

Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake will form the centre-back partnership designed to protect the Brazilian, with Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo operating in the full-back roles, charged with getting forward and supplementing our attacks.

In the absence of Rodri, it’s captain Ilkay Gundogan who will sit at the base of midfield and screen the back four, with Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva just ahead of him.

Phil Foden and Jack Grealish will play either side of the prolific Erling Haaland in our forward line - a front three containing guile and goals.

Pep Guardiola said on Friday City will need to ‘play the perfect game’ to beat Manchester United today. He knows United have had success at the Etihad in recent seasons, with their counter-attacking football often causing us difficulties.

The key for City will be to play with intensity, with and without the ball. When we have possession, we need to move it quickly, and when we lose it, we must win it back with haste.

If we do that, this home crowd here at the Etihad will respond and it should be a great occasion.

WATCH: Guardiola urges boyhood Blue Foden to keep derby focus

Match stats

Head-to-head

Manchester City could win three consecutive league games against United for the first time since a run of four between April 2013 and November 2014.

United are in danger of suffering their 18th Premier League loss against City - it would equal their highest number of defeats against a specific opponent (matching their totals against Liverpool and Chelsea).

This Premier League fixture has been won 21 times by the respective away side - no other match has produced more victories for the away team.

Manchester City

Manchester City could win eight consecutive top-flight home games whilst scoring at least three times in each victory - a feat last achieved by Tottenham in 1965.

City have scored 10 first-half goals and 13 second-half goals in the Premier League this season - Manchester United have eight in total.

Erling Haaland has netted 100 goals in 99 club appearances in all competitions, including 12 goals in seven games for City. He has scored from each of his last six Premier League shots on target at the Etihad.

Kevin de Bruyne has registered six assists and 25 chances created, both league highs. He has been directly involved in 30 goals in his last 30 Premier League starts, scoring 16 and assisting 14.

Pep Guardiola has lost three out of four Premier League games against the Red Devils at the Etihad Stadium. They are the only opponent against whom he has lost more than two top-flight home matches as a manager.

Ruben Dias is one short of 100 City appearances.

Manchester United

Manchester United could become the fourth team in English top-flight history to lose their opening two games then win their next five, emulating Sheffield United (1931), West Bromwich Albion (1954) and Arsenal (2018).

United last won five consecutive league matches in April 2021 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

This will be Erik ten Hag's first Manchester derby - each of the five United's previous five managers have lost their opening league fixture against City, with Alex Ferguson the last to begin with a win in 1987.

Ten Hag won eight of his nine league and cup matches as Ajax manager against historic rivals Feyenoord - a match known as De Klassieker in the Netherlands.

The Red Devils have conceded a league-high share 75% of their goals in the opening 45 minutes this term.

Cristiano Ronaldo can make five consecutive league appearances as a substitute for the first time since 2003, during his breakthrough season at Sporting Lisbon.

The forward has 699 career club goals in all competitions, including 497 in the league, and has registered four goals and two red cards in 12 competitive Manchester derbies.

Christian Eriksen is one short of 400 career league appearances.