Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Kyle Newbould

'No excuses' - Man City fans react to starting line-up vs Manchester United as Erling Haaland returns for derby

Pep Guardiola has named his Manchester City starting line-up for this afternoon's crucial trip to Old Trafford, making eight changes from the side that lost 2-0 to Southampton on Wednesday.

A lacklustre City side were eliminated from the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage, unable to find a reply to Southampton's flying first-half start. Two goals inside five minutes from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo handed the Saints ahead at the break, with Guardiola's men unable to register a single shot on target.

This afternoon's trip to Old Trafford presents a perfect opportunity, then, to bounce back into form and close the gap on league leaders Arsenal to just two points. Mikel Arteta's side will be watching closely before they take on Tottenham Hotspur in their own derby tomorrow.

READ MORE: United vs City LIVE

The reverse fixture back in October saw Guardiola's side run riot in a 6-3 victory, with both hat-trick heroes Erling Haaland and Phil Foden joining Riyad Mahrez in the front-three, while Kevin De Bruyne is back in midfield.

John Stones is the one major omission from the matchday squad, following confirmation earlier this week that the defender was unable to return to fitness in time. That has opened up the space Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake to pair up in the centre of defence.

And after the team news broke, City fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts.

City line-up: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Ake, Cancelo; Rodri, De Bruyne, Bernardo; Mahrez, Foden, Haaland

Subs: Ortega, Phillips, Gundogan, Grealish, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Palmer, Lewis

This lunchtime's contest kicks-off at 12:30pm and you can follow all of the action on our live matchday blog, which you can access by clicking here.

READ NEXT

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.