Pep Guardiola is enduring one of the most challenging periods of his managerial career with just one win in his last ten games in all competitions.
While Manchester City suffered a midweek defeat to Juventus in the Champions League, they’ve begun to show glimpses of recovery in the Premier League, securing a victory over Nottingham Forest and earning a draw against Crystal Palace in their last two outings.
Ruben Amorim despite starting with an unbeaten run in his first three games, has since lost two games in the league against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
It was always going to take time for the Portuguese boss to implement his new style and formation on the side, but the form needs to change if The Red Devils are to return to their glory days.
The home side has looked out of form since the injury to their star midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez and currently sits fourth in the league, eight points off of Liverpool at the top of the table, and has played a game more than the team in red.
United, on the other hand, are down in 13th losing more games than they have won having only won five games and picking up six losses.
A fixture that means a lot for both sides a win for either would be crucial in helping turn their form around and meeting their expectations.
Head2Head
The last two sides these sides have faced off against each other they have both been playing for the chance to win a trophy.
In August, the Community Shield was decided on penalties after a 1-1 draw in full-time where Manchester City were victorious.
Manchester United won the game before that when they lifted the FA Cup trophy winning 2-1 with goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.
There have been 194 meetings between the local rivals since they first met in 1891 in the FA Cup. Manchester City have won 62 times with Manchester United having won 79 times and the game ending in a draw 53 times.
Team News
City will be without the suspended Rico Lewis after he picked up two yellow cards and was sent off in their last Premier League clash against Crystal Palace.
This suspension adds a name to the long list of players who will be missing for this game, with Guardiola’s side going through an injury crisis at the minute.
Defense is where they have their main issues, and with Lewis out as well the Manchester City boss may be forced into naming some of the academy prospects at the back.
Nathan Ake has been missing since City’s last win when he picked up a hamstring injury at the start of the month and has struggled for game time this season with just eight appearances in all competitions.
Another player who was taken off in that game was Manuel Akanji with his injury unspecified Guardiola said after that match that he has “struggled a lot over the last two months.”
John Stones has been missing since the start of the bad run when he had to come off at halftime against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup with a foot injury and there is currently no expected date for his return.
In between the sticks, Ederson returned to the side in midweek against Juventus however he hasn’t played in the league since the 4-0 defeat against Spurs. German goalkeeper Stefan Ortega has been preferred in recent weeks since Ederson was dropped.
With Rodri injured Manchester City’s problems worsened in midfield when Mateo Kovacic returned from the last international break injured but was part of the squad that travelled to Turin this week and was on the bench against Juventus.
Phil Foden was also back on the bench for the game after he had missed the previous two games with an illness.
For Manchester United will be boosted by the return of both Toby Collyer and Victor Lindelöf with them both part of the squad that will travel to the Czech Republic for the Europa League tie against Viktoria Plzen.
However, a decision will have to be made on Jonny Evans who despite being back in training wasn’t part of the squad that went to the Doosan Arena. The 36-year-old has been missing with a muscle injury that has put him out of action for the last 5 games.
Luke Shaw is still recovering from his latest injury but was the only player in the week that was missing from training.
Ruben Amorim has made plenty of changes in his first games in charge of The Red Devils as he looks to find his best eleven.
He has also introduced a new formation with a 3-4-2-1 now being used compared to the old formation in the 4-2-3-1. It is a big change on the side so will take time to adapt to.
• Predicted Line-Ups
Manchester City: Ortega, Walker, Dias, Simpson-Pusey, Gvardiol, Gundogan, Silva, Savinho, De Bruyne, Nunes, Haaland
Manchester United: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt Martinez, Diallo, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot, Fernandes, Garnacho, Hojlund
Players to watch
Manchester City- Josko Gvardiol
Gvardiol signed in the summer of 2023 from RB Leipzig for a reported £77 million and was part of the side that won the Premier League in his first season where he made 28 appearances.
As well as being a solid defender the Croatian has scored eight goals for The Blues in his 58 games for the club. He even picked up the goal of the month award in both October and November for his goals against Wolves and Bournemouth.
Either a center back or a left back the versatility of Gvardiol could come in useful with the injury problems that Manchester City are suffering from.
Whilst he was at Leipzig, he was named in the VDV Bundesliga Team Of The Season and won the DFB- Pokal two years in a row.
Manchester United- Kobbie Mainoo
Mainoo made his breakthrough into the Manchester United side last season and has since gone on to become a key midfielder playing 50 times for the club where he came through the academy.
At the age of 19, he had already made ten appearances for England and was part of the side that finished runners-up to Spain in the European Championship in the summer.
He is known as one of the best young midfielders in the world and came third in the Kopa Trophy 2024.
He can play in both defensive midfield and attacking midfield and has since returning from injury played in a midfield two with Ugarte.
How to watch the game
The Premier League match between Manchester City and Manchester United takes place on Sunday 15th December 2024. The match will kick off at 11:30 ET / 08:30 PT and is available to watch on USA Network and NBC.
