With the Premier League title in sight, Manchester City host Manchester United for what promises to be an enthralling derby and the lineups for Saturday’s summit clash at the Etihad Stadium have been revealed.
How we line-up in the 176th Manchester Derby! 🙌
City XI | Ederson, Danilo, Kompany (C), Otamendi, Delph, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Bernardo, Silva, Sane, Sterling
Subs | Bravo, Walker, Agüero, Laporte, De Bruyne, Jesus, Yaya Touré
Presented by @HaysWorldwide #cityvutd #mancity pic.twitter.com/8QoJ2CMkWh
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 7, 2018
Ever the innovator, Pep Guardiola seems to have opted for a false-nine formation, with winger Raheem Sterling starting at the apex of their attack.
Sterling is supported by David Silva, Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva while it’s the bench for the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero.
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Fernandinho and Ilkay Gündoğan feature in the central midfield pivot.
Ederson starts between the sticks and the Brazilian has a four-man defence of Danilo, Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi and Fabian Delph in front of him.
Here’s the team news, #MUFC fans!
This is how we line up for derby day. #MCIMUN pic.twitter.com/xJ5a9r28G9
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 7, 2018
While their rivals have prioritised Europe over their domestic ambitions, United have named a full-strength XI with Romelu Lukaku leading the line at the top of their 4-2-3-1.
Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Alexis Sanchez line up behind the burly Belgian while Ander Herrera partners Nemanja Matic in the centre of midfield.
Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly and Ashley Young start in defence, ahead of custodian David de Gea.
City, still reeling from their disastrous 3-0 loss at the hands of Liverpool in their midweek continental fixture, have no time to mope for the league title could be theirs if they manage to beat the Red Devils.
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United will do their utmost to deny the Citizens from becoming champions, by a week at least, but with Jose Mourinho’s propensity towards defensive football, a draw looks like a likely result.
Manchester City: Ederson, Danilo, Kompany (c), Otamendi, Delph, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Bernardo, Silva, Sane and Sterling.
Manchester United: De Gea, Valencia (c), Smalling, Bailly, Young, Matic, Ander Herrera, Pogba, Lingard, Lukaku and Sanchez.
Match kicks off at 17.30 GMT/2200 IST.