Lisandro Martinez and Rasmus Hojlund are at the Etihad Stadium for the Manchester derby as a show of support for their Manchester United teammates.
Martinez and Hojlund arrived with the United squad ahead of kick-off, sparking wild speculation on social media over their possible involvement.
Both players are currently injured with Martinez ruled out until April after suffering a medial ligament injury in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham at the start of the year.
Hojlund meanwhile has missed United’s last two games after suffering a muscle injury that is expected to keep him sidelined for another two weeks.
As expected, neither player is involved in the match day squad, joining their teammates today to provide additional support.
In addition to the duo, United also remain without Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Tyrell Malacia, Anthony Martial, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire for the second derby of the season.
Kobbie Mainoo, Caemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay all start for United on Sunday afternoon.
Asked if his intention was to pack the midfield against City, ten Hag told Sky Sports: ‘No, I don’t think so.
‘Sometimes we want to overload that midfield by dropping players but by opposite movement to get a little bit of confusion there.
‘To get an extra player there that we can use for overload, but also we need the runs behind. We know they have a high back line, we have a lot of speed we can bring forward there with Garnacho, with Rashford, and from the second line, from Scott McTominay.
‘Even from the third line with Diogo Dalot, so we have our options there.’
City eased to a 3-0 win over United at Old Trafford back in October with Erling Haaland scoring twice afternoon.
With Martinez and Maguire sidelined, Jonny Evans starts at the back alongside Raphael Varane for United tasked with keeping tabs on the Norwegian who scored five against Luton Town midweek.
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