Key events
12 min Ake gives away a cheap corner, which Ederson punches away a little awkwardly. City are briefly rattled.
GOAL GIVEN! Fernandes, who was close to offside but being played on by Ake on the far side, ran onto a long goalkick from Onana and shielded the ball from Dias on the edge of the area. He turned and laid the ball back to Rashford, who ran onto the ball from deep and rifled a languid first-time shot from 25 yards. It flew past Ederson, hit the underside of the bar and bounced into the net.
I think this might be disallowed for offside…
GOAL! Man City 0-1 Man Utd (Rashford 8)
That is a banger from Marcus Rashford!
8 min After a long spell of City possession, De Bruyne’s cross is headed up in the air by Evans and claimed by Onana.
6 min United get behind City’s high line for the first time. McTominay cushions a pass into the space for Garnacho, who scoots away from Ake in the inside-right channel. Ake does well to get back and deflect Garnacho’s cross into the hands of Ederson.
5 min City have started very well. There is a certain logic in the United formation, especially keeping Rashford and Garnacho wide where it is easier to get them in behind the defence. It’s a brave decision from Erik ten Hag because he’ll get pelters if they lose, even though they are probably going to lose regardless of the formation.
3 min De Bruyne threads a lovely disguised pass into Stones, wandering into the area in open play. He cuts a defender and is about to shoot when Casemiro gets a slight but vital touch on the ball. City appeal for a penalty but there’s nothing in that.
2 min City win a very early corner, which leads to another when Foden’s long-range shot deflects behind. United’s shape is fascinating, basically 4-2-4-0. They tried this under Ralf Rangnicktwo years ago and lost 4-1, although they played quite well in the first half from memory.
Man Utd (4-2-4-0) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, McTominay, Rashford.
1 min Peep peep! City kick off from right to left as we watch. United have started with a box midfield, two wingers and no centre-forward.
“Lovely to have that update on the Utd diamond formation,” says Jeremy Boyce. “Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Amber, Jade(on) ? Will it actually make any difference? We all know who’ll be picking up the silverware in May/June. 1-0 Utd then?”
Football is a funny old game. And it’ll need to be for United to win and keep a clean sheet.
A reminder of the teams
Man City (possible 4-1-2-3) Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake; Rodri; De Bruyne, Bernardo; Foden, Haaland, Doku.
Substitutes: Ortega, Gvardiol, Akanji, Lewis, Kovacic, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Alvarez.
Man Utd (possible 4-D-2) Onana; Lindelof, Varane, Evans, Dalot; Casemiro; Fernandes, Mainoo; McTominay; Garnacho, Rashford.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Kambwala, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksen, Forson, Collyer, Diallo, Antony.
Referee Andy Madley.
Erik ten Hag’s pre-match interview
We have a few players with physical problems who have really fought to be part of this game. Jonny Evans is one of them – he wanted to play and this is the strongest back four we have available.
[On his tactics] Sometimes we want to overload the midfield. We know they have a high back line. We have a lot of speed with Garnacho, Rashford, then Scott McTominay from the second line and Diogo Dalot from the third. We have a lot of options there.
Sky Sports, who tend to have more inside information than your humble Guardian, think a) United will play with a diamond and split strikers and b) Diogo Dalot will play at left-back. This is how they have the United formation.
Man Utd (4-D-2) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro; Fernandes, Mainoo; McTominay; Rashford, Garnacho.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Kambwala, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksen, Forson, Collyer, Diallo, Antony.
Pep speaks
We know the strengths and qualities they have. [What are they?] The manager, Erik, knows the plan better than me. We’ll try to work it out as soon as possible and use the right doses of energy – not too much, not too little – to try to perform well.
When [Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, who both start] perform at a high leve, it’s an incredible weapon for us. Jeremy [Doku] has been amazing this season, especially for his first season. We need somebody who can dribble in the final third and he has this quality.
Full time: Burnley 0-2 Bournemouth
The early Premier League didn’t go to plan for City legend Vincent Kompany, whose Burnley side were again beaten. John Brewin has more.
Jamie Jackson on Bruno Fernandes
Jonathan Wilson on Erling Haaland
Our survey says…
Team news
Pep Guardiola makes three changes from City’s last league game, a 1-0 win at Bournbemouth eight days ago: Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku replace Manuel Akanji, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes.
Erik ten Hag has made two changes from the league defeat at home to Fulham. Jonny Evans comes in for the injured Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay replaces Omari Forson. That means some form of tactical switch – either a midfield diamond or Bruno Fernandes playing on the wing.
Man City (possible 4-1-2-3) Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake; Rodri; De Bruyne, Bernardo; Foden, Haaland, Doku.
Substitutes: Ortega, Gvardiol, Akanji, Lewis, Kovacic, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Alvarez.
Man Utd (possible 4-1-4-1) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro; Fernandes, McTominay, Mainoo, Garnacho; Rashford.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Kambwala, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksen, Forson, Collyer, Diallo, Antony.
Referee Andy Madley.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium. On paper, this is a mouthwatering prospect. City are on a run of 14 wins in 15 games; United have won their last six away from home. In reality, few people of sound mind give United a prayer. Last season they lost 6-3 at City and were flattered, seriously flattered, by the scoreline. The days of regularly winning at the Etihad are long gone; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer isn’t the manager any more.
The only metric (drink!) in which United trump City is, alas, the number of injuries. They are without at least three and arguably six of the side Erik ten Hag would like to play today, which makes things look even bleaker on the slim-to-noneometer.
All logic points to a City win, possibly a whopper. But football doesn’t always do logic, which is why this could yet be the greatest game you’ll see in your entire life. Best keep refreshing the page just in case.
Kick off 3.30pm.
